Recruitment is expected to drop to a 15-year low over the coming months, a survey by employment agency Manpower suggests.

The research suggests bosses are waiting to assess company performance in the first quarter of 2009 before altering staff levels and warned that prospects for employment were weak in many sectors, including manufacturing, construction, retail and finance.

Eight out of 10 firms were currently adopting a wait-and-see approach to taking on new staff, said Manpower managing director Mark Cahill.

"The figures confirm the depressed employer confidence we're experiencing as a business across the UK," he said. "The mood is largely one of uncertainty."