Corporate travel cuts: Most common cost-saver for companies

Faced with the deepest recession in at least a generation, companies are scrambling to cut costs. Judging by the torrent of layoff announcements and dismal unemployment figures, a lot of people are learning the hard way that their employers are not immune from such pressures. But there are plenty of ways to limit expenses, as a new survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt shows -- and layoffs aren't yet the most common.

Some 69 percent of companies say they've tightened restrictions on company travel, while 56 percent instituted hiring freezes, according to Watson Wyatt's poll of 245 big U.S. businesses. That's compared with 52 percent that have laid people off.