Tottenham Hotspur have cut the wages of all 550 of the club's non-playing staff by 20 per cent for April and May.
Spurs chief Daniel Levy stressed in a statement that people must understand the enormity of the coronavirus pandemic.
Levy also said they will utilise the government's 'furlough scheme', in which 80 per cent of wages will be covered by the authorities.
He said: "The decision by governments around the world to effectively close down economies with unheard of peacetime impacts on civil liberties in order to minimise the terrible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the right one to protect human lives.
"The crushing devastation on industries in many countries, the inter-dependence of international trade and travel in every aspect of our daily life is only now beginning to be felt. Every person on this planet will be affected and in my lifetime I cannot think of something so impactful.
"When I read or hear stories about player transfers this summer like nothing has happened, people need to wake up to the enormity of what is happening around us. With over 786,000 infected, nearly 38,000 deaths and large segments of the world in lockdown we need to realise that football cannot operate in a bubble. We maybe the eighth largest Club in the world by revenue according to the Deloitte survey but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries.
"The Club's operations have effectively ceased, some of our fans will have lost their jobs and most will be worried about their future. Our sponsors will be concerned about their businesses and our media partners have no certainty when we may play games again or whether we will be allowed to play in front of our fans. In the meantime, the Club has an annual cost base running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
"Yesterday, having already taken steps to reduce costs, we ourselves made the difficult decision – in order to protect jobs – to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20% utilising, where appropriate, the Government's furlough scheme. We shall continue to review this position.
"We hope the current discussions between the Premier League, PFA and LMA will result in players and coaches doing their bit for the football eco system.
"I have no doubt we will get through this crisis but life will take some time to get back to normal. Many families will have lost loved ones, many businesses will have been destroyed, millions of jobs lost and many Clubs whether big or small may struggle to exist. It is incumbent on me as Chairman to ensure we do everything we can to protect our employees, our fans, our partners, our Club for future generations – and equally important – our wider community where we have such an immense sense of responsibility."
