The private sector is most pessimistic when it comes to making redundancies, with a net employment intention figure of -30, the public sector reports a figure of -3 and the voluntary sector is on -12.
This is the first time the public sector has been hit and John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD, said: "We have always predicted the worst of the recession for the jobs market would be felt in the first part of 2009 and unfortunately we are now finding ample evidence to support our predictions. It is unsurprising the private sector is beginning to feel the pain. Following last month's Budget, this is now certain to become a regular phenomenon for taxpayer-funded jobs.
"While I expect private-sector net employment intentions to start to improve in the near future, the current figures for the public sector will look like a walk in the park as the drive to balance the books gets under way in earnest."
More than a quarter (27%) of employers are not planning pay reviews this year - and in the private sector a third of companies will hold pay at the same level in 2009. Only 5% of employers plan to increase pension contributions but a third will reduce bonuses and one in 10 will cut them altogether.
Andrew Smith, chief executive at KPMG, added: "Whichever way you look at it, the labour market outlook remains bleak - even though some of the data is showing signs the freefall in economic activity may be coming to an end."
Bleak labour conditions of the private sector are now hitting public and voluntary sectors
No sector has been unaffected by unemployment, with the CIPD and KPMG Labour Market Report finding employment intentions depressed in the private, public and voluntary sectors.
