More than half of private sector employers are not interested in hiring ex-public sector staff, according to a survey by the Financial Times and Barclays Corporate.

The survey reveals that 52% of private sector employers do not believe that former public sector employees are equipped to take a post in their firm.

Only 8% said they were ‘very interested’ in employing ex-public sector workers.

The government is banking that the private sector will be able to soak up public sector employees, who lose their jobs as the spending cuts begin to bite.

Last November, the Office for Budget Responsibility said it predicted the private sector would grow quickly enough to employ all of the 330,000 public sector workers it expects to lose their jobs over the next four years.

Although nearly six out of 10 (57%) private sector employers say they plan to create jobs, 78% want to see evidence of sales growth first.