Of those companies with a turnover under £5 million that are creating additional jobs in 2011, only half of the positions will be full-time.

The Barclays Corporate Job Creation Survey 2011 questioned 500 executives from UK companies of all sizes and found that large organisations with a turnover of more than £500 million were more enthusiastic about job creation, with 85 per cent planning to create new positions this year.

When respondents were asked whether job creation would generate sales growth or vice versa, 78 per cent of businesses acknowledge that growth would need to come first, compared with 69 per cent prior to the recession.

The majority of companies (91 per cent) also state they are looking to government policy to help drive the number of new jobs in the private sector.

Kevin Wall, managing director of Barclays Corporate, says the survey highlights that many businesses remain risk averse when it comes to creating new jobs in order to drive growth.

‘But if economic uncertainty is the new normal, confidence needs to come more from the ability to generate new orders and growth within a business, rather than focusing too heavily on the economic backdrop,’ he explains.