Employers across Europe are planning to grow their workforce in 2006.

That's according to a survey by Norwegian recruitment firm StepStone. Two thirds of firms across Europe are looking to hire staff, compared with 50% when the survey was last carried out in 2004.

Only about 5% of companies plan to shed jobs. But this figure is 13% for the UK, making it the weakest market in Europe.

Dutch companies have the most buoyant outlook, with 81% of them looking to add staff.

Colin Tenwick, chief executive at StepStone, said: “The European job market for specialists and executives is currently gaining momentum, with the strongest growth coming from the IT and telecommunications, engineering and sales sectors.”