Rise of the 50k temp

Temping may sometimes be dismissed as a second-tier career option, but some talented accountants north of the border are now raking in more than 50k a year for temporary contracts.

With Edinburgh's banks crying out for experienced fund accountants, along with back-office staff, including settlements, corporate actions, market data and valuations clerks, temping is definitely a viable career option these days.

According to recruiter Joslin Rowe, while permanent qualified financial services accountants will normally earn around 35k to 40k, equivalent temps will be on 20 to 28 an hour and, over the course of a year, on anything between 36k and 51k.

Joslin Rowe's findings echo a recent KPMG/REC study suggesting pay growth for temporary workers is now at its highest for nearly three years.

But don't get too excited. The majority of the hiring in Scotland is still on the permanent side, with around 90% of banks looking for permanent hires, against about 60% recruiting for temp/contract roles.

And on the whole, temporary salaries and permanent salaries are pretty much on a par, when based on a 35-hour working week, calculates Christine MacDonald of Joslin Rowe.

But that's only half the story, she says: "Temps benefit in the instances where they are allowed to work in excess of 35 hours - this 'overtime' bumps their annual earnings up, often by a substantial amount."

All temp finance roles are proving hard to fill at the moment in Scotland, says Lesley Erskine, team leader at recruiter Poolia. Qualified accountants, SOX auditors and systems auditors temps are now sometimes able to demand as much as 50% more than permanents.