People who are looking to change jobs should not be put off looking for new employment because of the current financial crisis, a human resource company says.

Employee may feel staying in the same job in tough times will ensure employment security but this not always the case, according to Adecco.

Figures recently published by the Office for National Statistics show there has been a fall in the number of people in employment in the third quarter of this year.

Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director of Adecco Retail, said it can be easy to think the best policy is to keep your head down, work hard and stay put.

"This does not always guarantee you job security and you should never limit your career by trying to blend in with everyone else," he added.

Figures also show the number of job vacancies fell to 589,000 in the third quarter of this year – a decrease of 40,000 from the previous quarter.