CIPD survey reveals jobs market expected to shrink

09:31 14th May 2009

A new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that employers expect the jobs market to continue shrinking.

In the current economic climate, there are also more companies planning to implement redundancies than there are planning to hire new staff in the coming months.

People with computer training could well stand out from the crowd in the coming months, especially as Steve Huxham, chairman of the Recruitment Society, said that short-term employment in the form of temping could become a more active sector.

Mr Huxham said: "The real benchmark is probably going to be the temp or the interim market, because again, if there is a real need for extra headcount quickly, then you are more likely to see that change or pickup, and that will act as a benchmark."

He added that predictions are difficult to make, especially as the rise in unemployment has not been as severe as initially expected.

There were nearly 70,000 fewer vacancies in the UK between December 2008 and February 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics.