Not enough people are booking holidays with Switzerland's leading travel agency, Kuoni, forcing the group to limit working hours for employees.

The agency said this week that the economic downturn had forced the company to trim schedules starting September 1. Peter Brun, Kuoni spokesman, said not all of the company's 1,500 employees would be affected.

"We can't name an exact number since we are still waiting on authorisation from several cantons," Brun said. Kuoni has a presence in nearly all of Switzerland's 26 cantons, each of which has rules regulating when a company can force employees to work short time.

The reduction will vary between departments and also affects Kuoni's subsidiaries. There is no timeframe for when the cutbacks would end.

Managers have agreed to wage cuts, giving up the equivalent of half a month's salary each year, in an effort to avoid layoffs.

Last week Kunoi presented half-year results that showed a net profit loss of SFr51 million ($47.8 million) compared with a net win of SFr21.3 million for the same period last year.

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