Confidence is returning as an increasing number of employers are now planning to take on permanent staff members.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s latest JobsOutlook survey, more than a third of employers indicated that they would be increasing their permanent workforce over the next 12 months.

A further 64 percent of employers plan to keep their staffing levels static.

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s Director of Research, said:

“The current figures really do show we have a transitional jobs market borne out last week by the slight decrease in the unemployment figures. Confidence among employers about their hiring intentions has stayed the same level as last month. At the same time, their reliance on temporary and contract staff is still strong but it is starting to ease slightly.

“The long-term prospects for the jobs market ties in with forecasts that private sector investment and trade will start accelerating in the second half of the year. However, until then, our jobs market will show signs of volatility until the infrastructure for private sector growth is in place to enable more jobs to be created within it.”