A quarter of U.S. employers plan to hire contract workers in the second quarter to fill productivity gaps, according to a survey by CareerBuilder and USA Today. Thirteen percent said they are likely to ultimately hire these workers on permanent basis.

The survey also found that 23% of employers plan to add full-time permanent staff in the second quarter. In the second quarter of 2008, only 18% of employers reported they hired full-time permanent staff.

Fewer also planned to cut staff in the second quarter with 8% planning to downsize in the second quarter of 2010 compared with 17% who cut staff in the second quarter of 2009.

For the first quarter, 23% of employers reported they were increasing their full-time, permanent staff. That compares with 13% in the first quarter of 2009.

"The number of job listings on CareerBuilder.com have increased both sequentially and year over year in 2010," CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said in a press release. "The recovery in the job market will take some time as employers face new market realities and gauge demand, but we expect to see gradual improvement throughout the year."

The CareerBuilder USA Today survey included more than 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals between Feb. 10 and March 2.