JOB opportunities in Tunbridge Wells are booming, according to leading recruitment specialists Manpower. The group's Tunbridge Wells business manager Fiona Nesbitt said: "The jobs market has recently seen a significant upturn.

"This has certainly been our branch's experience and reflects the findings of Manpower's quarterly survey of employment prospects for the third quarter of 2002." Tunbridge Wells weathered a downturn earlier this year and business activity is now growing.

Ms Nesbitt said: "We have seen a steady increase in the number of temporary and permanent staff out across all sectors, with the office sector particularly healthy at the moment. Our experience shows that the local permanent market is very buoyant, although we are also getting many long-term temping vacancies, which give people greater choice and variety.

"People are also choosing to work locally rather than spend many hours commuting to London, thus taking advantage of the quality of lifestyle Tunbridge Wells can offer. And the high-calibre of candidates mean that people are able to find work very quickly."

The Manpower quarterly survey for employment prospects asked more than 2,500 UK companies, spanning 12 regions and 19 industries, if they expect an increase, decrease or no change in their staffing levels in the three months to the end of September 2002. A "net job gains" is calculated by subtracting the percentage of companies expecting to reduce staff numbers by the percentage expecting to take on staff.

Net job gains in the south-east were 16 this quarter, making the region one of the strongest in the UK for new jobs. All UK regions and every industry sector, except education, are set to increase staffing in the quarter ahead.

Hotels and restaurants show the highest net jobs balance this quarter, with 41 per cent of employers in this sector planning to take on more staff next quarter. Health is in a strong second place in the table, with 28 per cent of those interviewed intending to increase their staffing levels between July and September 2002.

Other strong performers are media and sport, and business-to-business wholesale/retail, both with a net jobs balance of 22 per cent.

Manpower's quarterly survey of employment prospects is now in its 35th year of publication. It is one of the most respected indices of national employment trends in the country, widely used in government and industry, including the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, as evidence of labour market activity. Further information is available from Manpower's website, www.manpower.co.uk