Fujitsu Services closes its final salary pension scheme to existing members

(By Richard Holway 2.00pm 17th May 09) The Financial Times reported on Friday that Fujitsu Services “is to be the first large employer in nearly two years to close its defined benefit pension scheme to existing workers”. See Fujitsu shuts its final salary pension scheme.

To be fair, the fact that Fujitsu still had a final salary pension scheme came as a surprise, both to us and some people working at Fujitsu, as it closed to new members in 2000 and therefore “only 4,000 of its 14,500 workers in the UK and Ireland are still earning final salary pension benefits". Fujitsu confirmed the move, but said: “It is a regrettable but prudent decision on our part,” adding that the scheme is currently running a deficit of about £1bn. “We are not the first to do this and I don’t suppose we will be the last.”

Fujitsu plans to offer affected workers membership of the company’s defined contribution scheme.