Contractors and other professionals must improve their skills if they want to survive in today's job market, experts have said.

Careers advice specialist notgoingtouni.co.uk has advised that upskilling is essential for those who want to succeed.

Sarah Clover, spokesperson for the company said: "With many organisations reviewing staff numbers, those who are prepared to undertake training and have a wide range of skills are more likely to be seen as good value for money and retained."

These comments follow reports from the Office for National Statistics of the first quarterly fall in the employment rate since the three months to April 2010.

It also showed that the number of those employed in the public sector dropped by 33,000 to reach 6.01 million while employment rates for the private sector stuck at 23.11 million.

A new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that the global economy is recovering but youth unemployment is worsening.