The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 6 letter word WAGE FREEZE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
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More clues leading to the result WAGE FREEZE
- Austerity at work, with a dodgy geezer squeezing European head of finance?
- No pay rise, as few agree arrangement before final letter to Europe
- We faze 66.67 per cent of Greeks suffering austerity measure …
- A few getting drunk with geezer in reaction to credit crunch?
- Leader of workers with time reportedly delivers pay restraint
- Fixed income scheme with advancing years is liberating, they say
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Austerity at work" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case austerity at work = wage freeze.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.