Yesterday’s rise in unemployment to 1.92m is not all bad news.

Mark Cahill, Manpower UK’s managing director, says that after a period of uncertainty, in which many employers put off making any changes to staffing levels, temporary recruitment could be given a boost.

“As businesses adjust and reassess their workforce needs, we are more likely to see employers hire temporary over permanent staff until such time as the economic outlook stabilises. The lure of a temporary workforce is that it is highly flexible…

“Employers should look at redeploying their existing workforce or consider creative solutions that will allow them to retain their workforce during this difficult time, before making redundancies.”

Responding to the latest figures, REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) chief executive Kevin Green says: “This gives great cause for concern but the recruitment industry will respond by working with Jobcentre Plus in getting people back into work as soon as possible.

“However, this can only be achieved if the government does not make matters worse by removing the VAT staff hire concession which will result in up to 150,000 temporary jobs being put at risk in the financial services, education, health-care and charity sectors.”

Chris Banks, chair of the Learning and Skills Council, says: “We need to insulate against this wherever possible and so I urge companies to take advantage of money designed to pay for good quality leadership skills that will help managers and leaders to steer their organisations through these very difficult times.”