Jobseekers 'ready to take a pay cut'

Jobseekers are willing to agree a pay cut or take a more junior role to land a position in the tough economic climate, a new study showed today.

A growing number of public sector workers are trying to move to private firms because of cuts in public spending and warnings of huge job losses, a survey of 300 managers and 3,000 unemployed people by jobs website Gumtree.com revealed.

Careers expert John Lees said: "Thousands of people are expected to see their jobs disappear over the next 18 months.

"Despite the good news emerging about unemployment figures, there are going to be rocky times ahead, especially for those in vulnerable public sector jobs."

Almost half of jobseekers said they were willing to take a pay cut and more than a third were prepared to take a step down to a more junior role if it helped their employment prospects.