Scottish Labour Market Improving says Bank of Scotland

The Chief Economist at the Bank of Scotland, Donald McRae, said that “Recovery from the recession is extending to the labour market, with the demand for permanent staff rising at the fastest pace for three and a half years. Permanent staff appointments also increased for the sixth consecutive month, although growth eased from February’s 14-month high. All eight sectors registered a rise in permanent job vacancies during March, with the strongest increase occurring within the IT & computing sector, however average salaries awarded to permanent staff increased only modestly. This latest ‘Report on Jobs’ provides further evidence of the recovery in the Scottish economy.”

The Scottish labour market has historically been dependent upon the financial services sector to drive job creation. The news follows on from figures announced by Powerchex, the pre employment screening company, which said this week that recruitment figures for March 2011 show a 16% increase in jobs offers within the financial services sector. The survey also found that 23% more placements were offered and accepted by IT Contractors within the period. The news continues to show that the Banking and Financial sectors have rebounded in the last few months with many big IT projects officially back on.

Key highlights from the survey included:

• Confirmed job offers within the Financial Services sector increased by 16% last month
• Investment Banking recorded 82% more job offers in March compared to February 2011
• Stockbroker firms and Investment Management firms increased that recruitment levels by 73% and 56% respectively
• There were 23% more placements offered and accepted by IT Contractors
• Hedge Funds and Insurance Firm recruitment fell by 7% but this was following a huge increase of 58% the month before

Commonwealth Contractors

At Commonwealth Contractors we partner with OISC Registered Private Immigration Firms and Tier 2 Licensed Healthcare and IT Consultancies who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor an individual on a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). If you are a highly skilled International professional and you would like to work in the UK Commonwealth Contractors can help. Our OISC Registered Partners specialise in Tier 1 General (formerly Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) visa applications and can assist those highly skilled individuals that either wish to apply or extend a Tier 1 General Visa.

For more Information call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you. Please see other areas of the Commonwealth Contractors site for interesting articles on tax, immigration and contracting.