Public sector hiring is set to outpace hiring the private sector over the next three months, according to international staffing giant Manpower. 

In a survey of 2,100 employers, it says that a “degree of over-firing” has seen the public sector begin recruiting again “with renewed vigour”. 

Mark Cahill, Manpower UK managing director, says: “They have over-fired or let too many take redundancy and they are the wrong people that have gone.”

The seasonally adjusted net employment outlook was +6%, indicating that more employers plan to increase than cut staff. Business and financial services registered a +13%, partly as a result of 20,000 staff taken on by the banks to deal payment protection insurance mis-selling claims.