Redundancies could go on risingIt is likely that redundancies will continue to rise or remain at a high rate, even when economic recovery in the UK has begun, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned.

Figures released by the group note that the proportion of HR professionals seeking advice on how to make staff redundant changed very little between the first and second quarters of 2009.

The group states that this research suggests redundancies are set to continue at a high rate into the second half of the year.

Commenting on the figures, Dr John Philpott, chief economist and public policy director for CIPD, said: "There have been a lot of efforts to hold on to workers and that’s partly due to the fact that the whole nation realises they are going through tough times, but they are hoping that things will prove relatively quickly."

He went on to state that if the improvement was only modest businesses may have to prepare themselves to make further job cuts over the course of the next 12 months.