More than two-thirds of directors will not receive a pay rise during 2009, a report has claimed.
Around 70% of FTSE 350 firms have implemented a pay freeze for their executive directors this year, according to business advisory firm Deloitte.
The average increase paid to those who are getting pay increase is between 3% and 4%, well down on the 6% to 7% range typically seen during the past few years.
Carol Arrowsmith, partner and head of the remuneration team at Deloitte, said: "Remuneration committees, and indeed executives themselves, are responding both to the economic situation they find themselves in, and to pressure from investors, the media and the general public.
"The majority have clearly concluded that to award salary increases to executives in this difficult climate would be inappropriate.
"This is the first time in a good many years that we have seen executive salaries frozen and, even more unusually, we have seen instances of some taking a salary cut."
But the bonuses that executives can expect to receive have not been hit to the same extent, and while potential bonuses have generally not increased, in most cases they have not been cut.
Despite the economic downturn, executives are continuing to receive the majority of their bonus, with typical payouts of around two-thirds of the maximum.
The group said this was likely to be because for many companies performance during 2008 continued to be strong.
It added that bonuses for executive in the financial and property sectors were considerably lower at around 30% of the maximum amount that could be earned.
