A REPORT has found manufacturing employment will continue to fall to record low levels next year, despite predictions that up to 200,000 jobs will be created.

Job creation next year will be limited by the need to improve productivity, especially in the public sector, according to a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Employers will have a challenging time next year trying to improve productivity and tackle sickness absence, and will have to take on migrant workers to fill vacancies, the research suggested.

The study showed that companies continued to have problems recruiting and retaining skilled staff.

The research, among 10,000 employers, found there were fewer redundancies this year compared with last.

Companies questioned by the CIPD said sickness absence was becoming a real headache, with workers taking an average of nine days a year off sick, rising to more than ten in the public sector.