Voluntary sector employment has risen for the second consecutive quarter with an additional 20,000 paid employees entering the workforce in the first three months of 2012.

The figures are the latest revealed in the quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics and analysed by Skills - Third Sector. The survey previously reported the first rise in six quarters between October and December 2011, when the voluntary sector workforce rose by 36,000 employees.

With the latest increase of 20,000 staff, equivalent to a 2.6 per cent rise, the current paid workforce in the voluntary sector is 779,000 staff. This is still 27,000 short of the all-time high of 806,000 employees documented in mid-2010, and 5,000 short of the number of employees in the sector this time last year, however. 

Prior to the two increases, the voluntary sector workforce had decreased by 8.7 per cent, to 723,000, in the 12 months to October 2011. 

Keith Mogford, chief executive of Skills - Third Sector gave tentative praise for the latest results:

"These findings show that we are above all a resilient sector, making a significant contribution to both the British economy as well as society.

"We are of course concerned that the headline figure belies a more complicated picture and would urge organisations in the sector to maintain their reputation as good places to work, with a clear commitment to the needs of their diverse staff."

Part-time employment decreases

The figures reveal that the balance between part-time and full-time employment in the sector has shifted between Q4 2011 and Q1 2012.

While in the twelve months to March 2012 the number of full-time employed decreased overall by 7,000 to 489,000, the latter three months saw an increase of 28,000. Meanwhile the number of part-time employees decreased by 8,000 to 290,000 in the latter quarter, while there has been an increase of 2,000 over the twelve-months. 

Private and public employment decreases

The voluntary sector represents 2.7 per cent of total UK employment, compared to 73 per cent in the private sector and 24.3 per cent in the public sector. While voluntary sector employment saw a 2.7 per cent increase in the three months to March 2012, the private sector has seen a decrease of 78,000 staff (0.4 per cent) and the public sector has seen a decrease of 7,000 staff (0.1 per cent).