The war for talent rages on as the recession has ensured that candidates are reluctant to move, according to HR recruiters.

John Maxted, chief executive at Digby Morgan, told Recruiter: “It is more difficult to find talent because the good people are not going to be moving. We are not seeing the same quality of canididates as we did in the past. There are more of them but less high perfomance candidates.”

Alison Hughes, director at Higher Talent, adds: “A lot of people are staying put and keeping their heads down. Companies, while they are restructuring, are looking to keep hold of their very good employees. What people do not want to do is go into a new role and for that company to hit the hard times.”