New figures reveal employers are still exercising caution, with wages falling across the board from £28,207 to £25,543 – a difference of £2,664.
Staff in the legal sector are feeling the pinch with pay for new recruits averaging out at £42,583.27-a-year compared with £53,841.50 six months ago – a fall of £11,258.22.
By contrast, the management sector has seen a healthy rise in wages of £6,223.01, despite the current financial climate.
According to UKJobs.net, which published the figures, more companies than ever before are taking on part-time or temporary staff while they weigh up the long-term economic impact of the recession.
David Brown, of UKJobs, said: ‘The figures show the economic downturn is still with us and continuing on its downward trend.
‘Companies still need staff to operate, but rather than saving money by sacking their workforce they are looking to get more staff for their money to remain competitive.
‘We are also seeing an increase in the number of part time vacancies being offered as employers simply can’t afford to hire full time staff.
‘The better-than-expected unemployment figures over the past year show that UK workers are pragmatic, preferring to be in a lower paid or part time job than out of work entirely.
Other major sectors shown to have suffered include administration and marketing.
Where admin workers formerly started on £25,978.79, they can now expect to earn about £8,400 less – drawing a yearly wage of only £17,559.79, according to the figures.
And marketing experts currently out of work will be looking at a salary of £27,717.09 – £4,450 less than before.
But the findings showed certain workers could benefit from pay rises, with those looking for work in logistics, electronics and telecommunications drawing more favourable salaries than they might have done previously.
Those applying for jobs in logistics can now earn £21,233.81 – an upturn of £5,266.69 – while people working in electronics can expect to be paid on average £30,376.99 – an increase of £3,110.75 from that offered before.
Similarly, people working in telecoms could find themselves better off. Jobs in the industry are now advertised with an average annual salary of £34,383.05 – an increase of £2,000 in the last six months.
UKJobs analysed 70,000 posts advertised over the past six months for the study.
