The first quarter of this year will be the most difficult for job prospects since the last recession with increasing numbers of firms making redundancies, a report has warned.The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found the difference between the number of employers intending to hire new staff and those warning of cuts has dropped to its lowest since the end of the last recession in 2009.
The CIPD said the findings reinforced its prediction that unemployment could reach 2.85 million by the end of the year unless business conditions improved.
The jobless total increased to 2.68 million last month and is expected to rise again when new figures are published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the CIPD, said: "Whereas employers were in wait-and-see mode three months ago, more private sector firms, particularly among private sector services firms, have decided to push the redundancy button in response to worsening economic news.
"This will exert yet more pressure on a jobs market that is buckling under the strains of contractions in economic growth."
The CIPD's survey, which included responses from 1,000 employers, found 31% of private sector firms plan on making redundancies this quarter, up from 24% in the previous three months.
It also revealed a further widening of a North-South divide in the jobs market, with employment prospects far brighter in London and the South of England compared to the North.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Everybody's worst fears about rising unemployment and a new North-South divide are coming true.
"We were promised a private sector-led recovery but instead private sector workers are joining public servants in the dole queues."
The findings came as deputy prime minister Nick Clegg urged businesses to sign up to the Government's £1bn Youth Contract.
The fund, available from April, will give employers access cash to help cover the cost of taking on unemployed 18-24 years olds through a 'wage subsidy'.
Employers will be given £2,275 for every young person they employ from the Work Programme - and keep on for a minimum of 26 weeks - to help cover costs like National Insurance contributions.
Mr Clegg said: "Today I'm writing out to thousands of employers of all sizes - from global corporations to small local firms - calling on them to look at what we're offering through the Youth Contract and sign up to offer jobs from April.
"This is a significant moment and a call to arms for businesses to offer long-term opportunities to young people who are out of work."
But Wednesday's official figures are also expected to show another jump in youth unemployment.
A separate report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warns almost one in five low-earning young people would run out of cash in less than a month if they lost their job.
The think-tank said there was a "worrying" savings gap between the amount young people earning less than £21,000 believe they need and how far their reserves will actually go.
When asked how long they could make ends meet if they lost their job, more than a quarter of the 1,500 16 to 29-year-olds surveyed said more than one month but less than three months.
Some 17% said they could only make ends meet for less than a month.
Most financial advisers would recommend that people put aside the equivalent of three months take-home pay for an emergency.
IPPR chief economist Tony Dolphin said: "Our poll suggests that very few young people have the reserves they would need if they were made redundant.
"With over one million young people already unemployed and the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting that unemployment will continue to rise in 2012, these young people without savings are particularly vulnerable."
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