Redeployment levels across the human resources sector have doubled over the past year as employers try to transfer staff internally as a means of avoiding redundancy.

According to the Chartered Management Institute and salary data provider CELRE, there is currently an internal transfer rate of 8.1% compared with 4.3% in 2008. In the last major recession of 1991, internal transfers peaked at 1.6%.

Over the past year, the report shows 5.2% of department heads have been transferred compared with 1.2% being made redundant. Among junior staff, 6.6% have been transferred while 1.3% face redundancy.

But 61% of staff are struggling to retain staff - 46% believe this is because of job insecurity in their organisation and 47% blame the salaries on offer.

In HR specifically, pay rises average 4.8%, marking a drop from the 6.6% recorded as average this time last year.

Lord John Eatwell, chief economist at the Chartered Management Institute, said: "It is encouraging to see employers looking for ways to avoid redundancy rather than adding length to the dole queue without a second thought. Perhaps it is because employers are finally beginning to recognise retaining competence is a far more cost-effective option than rebuilding a talented team from scratch."

But he added: "The longer the recession goes on the more likely it is that employers will be forced to lay off staff - creating the possibility of skill shortages in the recovery."