A new survey from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) shows that over half of employers (54%) plan to increase their permanent workforce in the next three months, while 49% see their permanent workforce growing in the long term.

In fact, according to the JobsOutlook survey, only a tiny percentage of employers (1%) anticipate cutting back on permanent staff over the year ahead.

Furthermore, October also saw a boost in the number of temporary staff who were subsequently taken on as permanent employees, with almost one in four temps landing a permanent role this way, the highest transfer rate since the survey began in July 2009.

The REC’s director of research Roger Tweedy said:

“Business confidence is steadily strengthening each month. With official employment figures continuing to grow and the UK exiting the double dip recession there are fewer dark clouds on the horizon and many employers feel they can confidently plan for the future.

“Employers see transferring temps into permanent staff as a cost-effective, low risk way to grow their workforce. This has been an increasing trend during the recession.”