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The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) claims the conditions for employment are at a record low, with all sectors anticipating job cuts.

According to the group's latest Labour Market Outlook, which surveyed more than 500 firms, the jobs market is expected to shrink over the next three months as more companies intend to make redundancies than take on new staff.

The report's key indicator of net employment intentions shows a balance of -19, a record low and a fall of ten points from the balance recorded in the winter quarter.

John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD, comments: 'We've always said that the worst of the recession for the jobs market would be felt in the first part of 2009 and unfortunately we're now finding ample evidence to support our predictions.'

He also claims it is 'unsurprising' that the private sector is being hardest hit by declining employment prospects, but notes that this has now spread to the public sector.

The survey also discovered that one-third of businesses intend to implement a pay freeze, while those that are increasing wages are doing so at restrained levels.

This supports recent research carried out by recruitment website Monster, which discovered 65 per cent of workers do not expect to see a pay increase in the next year.

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