With unemployment predicted to breach 10% outside of London and the South of England, nearly two thirds of public sector workers would now be prepared to take pay cuts to save their jobs.
 

According to a survey of 1,600 public sector jobseekers by recruitment web site Totaljobs.com, a quarter said they would stomach a salary reduction of 6% and one in six of 10%.
 
The figures are in stark contrast to a similar study undertaken in April, when only a fifth of public servants said they would be willing to see their pay being cut. Nearly a third have already taken a pay cut or pay freeze over the last year, however, and 54% feel less secure in their job than they did before the coalition government came to power.
 
John Salt, director at Totaljobs.com said: “With the threat of redundancy hanging over people’s heads, morale has dropped significantly among public sector workers. The uncertainty over their roles, in a sector previously associated with job security, has meant that workers are now willing to make compromises they previously would not have considered.”
 
Rather than focusing on pay, public sector staff are now giving a higher priority to ‘softer’ benefits. About 23% of respondents said that they felt job security was the most important factor, followed by working conditions and flexible working (14%).
 
But there was also evidence that many were now considering migrating away from areas of high unemployment such as the West Midlands and North East to areas where job prospects were brighter such as London and the South East of England. The latter have seen the number of job postings increase by 35% and 41% respectively.
 
The news came as a leading economics think-tank warned that unemployment outside of London and the South East and West of England was set to breach the psychologically important 10% level.
 
The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) said that a combination of public sector spending cuts, sluggish private sector growth and slowing demand for British exports if the global recovery falters would further reinforce existing geographical disparities.
 
The North East, North West, Yorkshire, Humberside, the West Midlands and Wales, which rely disproportionately on the public sector for employment, would all see their share of the UK’s economic output fall over the next five years with a concomitant effect on joblessness. London and the South of England, however, would see their contribution to the economy increase to nearly 20% from 16.3% now.
 
Douglas McWilliams, the CEBR’s chief executive, told the Independent: “It will take some time for the private sector to adjust and fill the vacuum left once the public sector cuts are felt. It is likely to be an agonising transition.”