Almost a quarter (23%) of public sector jobseekers would be willing to compromise on pay to get public sector jobs, while only 4% would compromise on pension rights, according to new research from Totaljobs.com.

John Salt, website director at recruitment website Totaljobs.com, says: “Our findings show that jobseekers are willing to take a temporary sacrifice in pay for financial security in the future and this is particularly true for those in the public sector.

“During the worst of recession, we were seeing those made redundant from the private sector look to the public sector as the place to go for job and financial security. But as the new government begins sharpening the axe we can see the beginnings of fear and inflexibility in the public sector over pension rights in particular.”