Workers in the UK are facing an uphill struggle as latest figures show an increase in the number of redundancies.

There has been a reduction in the number of employees on permanent contracts, according to the latest quarterly labour market statistics published by the Office for National Statistics. The rise in redundancies, alongside an increase in the number of vacancies, could indicate that some employers may be restructuring their workforces by laying-off permanent staff and hiring contract staff.

John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: "This is not a particularly good time to be an employee unless you are a high flier working in those parts of private sector services that are able to offer big bonus payments.

"The real incomes of most workers are being squeezed and it will get harder still when, as now seems certain, interest rates and mortgage payments rise again from next month."