Despite news of staff freezes, a new report has revealed that two-fifths of employers will be increasing their secretarial and support staff in 2009.

That is one of the findings in the annual Market Report and Salary Survey conducted by recruitment firm Crone Corkill.

In addition to the 39 per cent of employers who said they would increase recruitment of business support professionals, more than 50 per cent of those questioned said they would maintain their current hiring levels.

The report also stated that more than a third of the company’s clients would look to help maintain existing staff by offering “increased base salaries, additional bonuses and enhanced training and development opportunities”.

In terms of where companies are looking to recruit staff from, the survey revealed that recruitment consultancies came top of the list of preferred places to search for candidates.

Wales online recently reported on the launch of a virtual recruitment fair at jobswales.co.uk, which allows candidates to search for jobs online.