WHILE jobs in conveyancing are suffering because of the economic downturn, solicitors are aggressively hiring in other areas, says a Bournemouth recruiter, who has experienced a 20 per cent growth in business.

Employers are using more temporary staff, too.

These comments come as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has reported that recruitment is set to fall significantly while redundancies will increase.

Lee Cooper, of specialist human resources and legal recruiter Hudson Cooper in Bournemouth, explained: "In the legal sector, clients are still hiring, although skill sets are changing. There is aggressive hiring for debt recovery and litigation specialists."

He added that businesses are holding on to staff: "Employers are fighting harder to keep talented people and I think they are using the credit crunch to sort the wheat from the chaff. Companies are becoming leaner and meaner."

Hudson Cooper has experienced a 22.5 per cent increase in business since last year with its temporary division growing by seven per cent.

A fact mirrored by general recruiter Fresh Recruits in Bournemouth.

Jo Rankin, director of the agency, said that employers are using more temporary staff to ensure that they do not get involved in expensive redundancy procedures.

She said: "Our temping side is growing massively because employers are looking at fixed term contracts to ease the peaks and troughs in their businesses."

And Peter Scott, chief executive of Dorset Business (the Chamber of Commerce & Industry) admitted that in such times the county's companies will re-assess staffing levels. He said: "Inevitably staffing levels and the associated wage costs are among the first overheads to be tackled.

"Businesses across the UK are hurting in the worsening market conditions, with both sales and margins under pressure.

"With over 1.6m people in the U.K. now out of work the picture is not rosy and Dorset is not immune.

"We would urge caution rather than knee-jerk reactions."