Recruitment bonanza on the cards for Glasgow

So, Edinburgh's banking industry might be going to the dogs, but Glasgow is likely to attract 5,000 financial services jobs over the next two years. And no, they're not only going to be in call centres....

According to an independent survey carried out by economic consultants EKOS (um, at the behest of Scottish Enterprise), the outlook for Glasgow's International Financial Services District (IFSD) is bright, and so far jobs cuts have been kept to a minimum.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, a lot of the office development integral to attracting new firms, and allowing existing ones to expand, was commissioned before the slump began.

"A lot of the investment in the IFSD was guaranteed before the credit crunch began to bite - we are in a very fortunate position," says Jim Watson, senior director for financial services at Scottish Enterprise.

He also points to the diversity of the financial sector in Glasgow, which is less reliant on the banking industry than Edinburgh.

Perhaps more importantly though, Glasgow is a cheaper option. It offers a 40-50% cost saving in operational efficiency on London, which is why Watson is confident of attracting new entrants.

"You have got to have confidence you can move to a location where you can get labour at more affordable cost and reduce overheads at the same time are delivering quality of service to customers," he says.

In spite of this, Watson reckons the latest jobs at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley paid between 35-50k, which suggests they are skilled positions rather than call centre roles.

Glasgow is already home to the likes of Barclays Wealth, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and last month BNP Paribas announced the creation of another 80 jobs north of the border. There's also the less glamorous prospect of 500 new call centre jobs at esure.

Margaret Dyer, director of Joslin Rowe in Scotland, says these astronomical recruitment levels have yet to surface.

"We are seeing roles coming out, but not in huge volumes, and I'm not aware of any imminent large recruitment drive. Having said that, there is more activity than in Edinburgh at the moment," she says.