eFinancialCareers

It’s unlikely to happen overnight, but with the London financial jobs’ market surging ahead and Lloyds Banking Group and (increasingly) RBS now being run from London, Scotland faces an uphill battle in preventing a talent drain down south. Former RBS chief economist Jeremy Peat warned late last year that Edinburgh risked losing its status as a major hub for financial services as the “centre of gravity” increasingly shifted to London. Morgan McKinley’s... Read more

With RBS poised to hand out around £1.3bn in bonuses this year – predominantly to London-based investment bankers – it's not just risking the wrath of the public. Its Scottish employees are rather peeved as well. Comparatively speaking, RBS isn't going to be particularly generous to its investment bankers. It plans to pay only 30% of its revenues in bonuses, which is substantially lower than the 40-50% usually handed out within... Read more

Pay rises in Scotland financial sector may be rarer than a banker-praising politician at the moment, but benefit packages appear to have remained relatively in tact. However, even this has an element of the scrooge about it. The latest Scottish financial services employment review by recruiters Joslin Rowe shows that 83% of firms surveyed intend to maintain the same benefits package as last year. In the 2009 survey, 61% said... Read more

Scotland's bankers are depressed. The ever-present threat of redundancy hanging over the country's financial sector for the last 18 months means morale is at an all-time low. So, how can you motivate yourself to make the best of a bad situation? In his forthcoming presentation to the Scottish Parliament banking enquiry, Rob MacGregor of the union Unite, is set to point to the morale crisis in the facing the country's banking... Read more

Scotland's financial services industry seems, in theory, a long way from Washington's freshly declared war on Wall Street . But Obama's new tough stance suggests one worrying fact – RBS is not out of the woods yet. To reiterate, Obama is barring proprietary trading – ie, betting with the banks' own money – within those firms that have a significant retail function. They'll also be forbidden to run hedge funds and... Read more

As far as hiring sprees go, HSBC's decision to take on ten staff for its commercial banking team in Scotland is relatively small beer. What it demonstrates, however, is a new desire among banks north of the border to fill the gaping hole left by RBS and HBOS in this sector, which has jump-started the job market again. HSBC's recruitment of ten relationship managers and new business for its... Read more

Working under the watchful eye of the British Treasury at RBS may be a turnoff to investment bankers in London, but the firm is having no such problems attracting applicants for the roles it's recruiting for in Scotland. The difficulty in attracting and retaining investment banking talent in London is "the single biggest problem at RBS", according to Stephen Hester, mainly because of the public outrage at the bonuses paid out... Read more

If the mood surrounding Scotland's banking sector going into to 2009 was one of trepidation, following a torrid end to 2008, the eventual battering dished out to its international reputation and its workforce would have left even the pessimists thinking they'd been overly cheery. Noble, the Edinburgh investment bank, dished out the final blow to 'brand Scotland' in December after its acquisition by brokerage firm Execution sees its HQ move to... Read more

Considering the nearly unremitting gloom surrounding Scotland's financial sector in 2009, we thought we'd kick-start the new year by offering our projections on where the jobs are likely to be created in 2010. Asset management: Scotland's asset management firms had shown a tentative appetite to recruit once again towards the end of 2009 and this looks like gaining a little more momentum in 2010. "Growth in global equity funds plus absolute return regulated... Read more

It’s safe to say that there are few areas of the financial services industry in Scotland that had a particularly enjoyable 2009. However, certain sectors weathered the crisis better than others this year. Here’s our considered opinion. 2009 has been a good year for… Wealth management: Even amid the nearly universal gloom surrounding Scottish financial services at the beginning of 2009, sentiment around the wealth management sector was positive... Read more

We've all seen variations on the list of common questions interviewers ask, but how much have you thought about what questions you should ask a potential employer? The best interviews are really conversations, as well they should be. You want to know if the position is the right fit - just as much as the company does. After all, the work you do makes up a good portion of your waking... Read more

Scottish bankers lamenting the ongoing redundancy announcements coming from Lloyds Banking Group should bear one thing in mind – HBOS would have failed without intervention. At least that's the view of Archie Kane, executive director of the bank, who was presenting evidence to the ongoing Holyrood banking inquiry. He said that HBOS was "finished as an entity" when it was taken over by Lloyds for £12bn last year. His words are unlikely... Read more

The spectre of a further 3,000 Scottish financial services job losses, combined with negligible growth prospects for the next four years, suggests that there's little to cheer in the winter Ernst & Young Scottish Item Club economic report. However, it might not be entirely bleak. There were just 4,300 financial services job losses in the 15 months to June 2009, according to E&Y's report – a long way below its previous... Read more

As Scotland's financial services sector begins to come to terms with the latest redundancy announcements within its two biggest banks, it's been dealt another blow – the effects of the crisis could be permanent. Within the last week, RBS has announced a further 3,700 job cuts, and Lloyds Banking Group unveiled 5,000 more cuts – 1,000 of which will hit Scotland. As the Scottish government continues to pick through the pieces... Read more

It's official – financial services firms in Scotland are hiring again, and in greater numbers than at any time since November 2008. But while this is an excellent hook for politicians to talk about an economic recovery north of the border, it would be wrong to suggest a definite upturn has taken place. Official data shows that over 1,400 financial jobs were advertised during the month of September, representing 49%... Read more

Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed that a further 3,700 retail banking jobs are to go, and sadly a large proportion of those are likely to be north of the border. The bank has also confirmed details of the terms of its asset protection scheme (APS) participation, which will see branches sold in Scotland. RBS wasn't forthcoming on exactly where the latest round of redundancies will occur, but unions say they... Read more

Stepping into the gargantuan shoes of Sir Sandy "Standard Lifer" Crombie was never going to be an easy task, but the firm has searched within for his successor, choosing current finance director David Nish. Below is a version of his CV fashioned entirely by us from facts we have elicited about his career to date. How can you follow in his footsteps? Study hard, rise up the ranks and don't... Read more

Scotland is keen to tout itself as an attractive destination for international financial services firms to set up shop (and hence create jobs north of the border). However, the turmoil surrounding the domestic banking sector has seen its reputation tarnished on the global stage. Scotland has not fared very well at all in the latest Global Financial Centre Index, which ranks 75 cities in terms of their competitiveness against one another.... Read more

Devolution in Scotland is, of course, a thorny issue, particularly since the SNP's new referendum for independence. But, when it relates to the financial services industry, few are willing to climb down off the fence. This is beginning to change. The UK government is currently getting stick from all areas of the financial services industry – for everything from income tax to bonus proposals – for undermining the competitiveness of the... Read more