Next quarter promises reduced job options for finance workers

Just in case you haven't had your fill of the feast of woe coming out at the moment, here's another survey to dampen any festive cheer you may have accumulated. The outlook for Scotland's employment market for the next few months is at its lowest ebb for six years, and reduced growth prospects for financial roles are leading the way.

Scotland was among the least optimistic region in the UK in recruitment firm Manpower's poll of 2,100 firms. Most firms were bearish over hiring plans and managers are taking a "wait and see" approach with no planned changes to headcount over the coming months.

The "net employment outlook" in Scotland was -9%, which is 13 percentage points down on the previous quarter and worse than the UK average of -2%.

Ann Marie Ridgley, Manpower's regional manager for Scotland, said: "We're seeing significantly reduced demand for permanent staff, particularly in the finance and business sector."

Manpower's gloomy prediction for banking and financial services workers in Scotland echoes other studies, which suggest shrinking job opportunities and increasing redundancies.