Finance news Scotland | Job market news, recruitment & career trends for the job seeker in Scotland for the financial markets

Scotland's continued spiralling unemployment, in contrast with the rest of the UK, has largely been laid at the feet of the country's financial services sector. But is it safe to say the situation is beginning to pick up? Grim figures indeed released by the Office of National Statistics showed that 16,000 jobs have been lost north of the border in the past three months. Unemployment in the UK as a... Read more

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

Judging by the uproar around the $500m palatial surroundings Royal Bank of Scotland keeps its US-based investment bankers in, you'd have thought its Edinburgh HQ was some sort of highland shack. It's not. Aside from the fact that RBS is considering selling the £335m Gogarburn Scottish development, which houses some 3,200 staff, it's (nearly) as much a state of the art complex as the plush new US office. For pictorial evidence of... 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

Scottish financial services firms have cut staff numbers so deeply that they don't have sufficient headcount should things get significantly better this year. As a result, more than half intend to bolster their teams by up to 10% in 2010. The annual recruitment review by recruiters Joslin Rowe looks back on a turbulent year in Scotland's financial sector, when job vacancies slid by 93% on 2008 and 43% of firms surveyed... 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

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

Scotland's banking sector has been bolstered by new back office jobs already this year and more are likely this year. There's also the prospect of new players creating jobs north of the border. Back office functions might not be the most glamorous facet of the financial services industry, but new roles continue to gravitate north of the border. Virgin Money is set to expand its Edinburgh office following its acquisition of private... 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

After the latest round of job cuts at RBS – 3,700, of which 800 will hit Scotland – retail bankers north of the border can take some solace in the fact that the worst may be over, if Stephen Hester's words are to be believed. The bank's chief executive stepped up to give evidence to the ongoing banking enquiry held in Holyrood. He promised any future cuts within RBS's Scottish... 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