Tom Hadley, director of external affairs at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, said that the downturn has had a significant effect on such employees and has had a bigger impact on white collar workers than has been seen in previous recessions.
"In some ways that has eclipsed [the fact that this recession has] impacted on all sectors of the economy, both skilled and unskilled," he added.
Mr Hadley went on to state that there needed to be a focus on the mid to long term in ensuring that jobs were available for unemployed workers in the future.
He explained that this would mean workplaces providing the right training for potential employees.
His comments come as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development revealed that Labour Force Survey statistics indicate that for every one white collar job being lost, almost three blue collar redundancies are being made.
