Scottish firms looking to pick up financial technologists

It's been a miserable few months for IT in finance workers north of the border, but now there are signs that things could be picking up again.

What are the reasons for this optimism? Well, it seems that one of Scotland's largest IT divisions within Standard Life is still looking to take people on, Barclays Wealth is continuing its technology hiring spree, Tesco Personal Finance will require some tech staff and even RBS is taking on contractors to complete projects, according to headhunters.

Phil Notley, director of Cyberteam Resourcing in Edinburgh, tells us: "There's a lot of system integration work within financial services, as well as projects that still need to be completed. We're still seeing strong demand for technologists, from places where you probably wouldn't expect it."

Standard Life, for instance, is continuing the IT system overhaul that it began in 2004. According to an interview with the group's IT director Keith Young on Silicon.com, attracting and retaining the best staff is integral to this.

At the moment, though, it seems the majority of positions are at graduate level.

Still, with the difficulty getting sign off for permanent staff in the current climate, the majority of new roles are being created on a contract basis, says Mike Stirton, regional director of recruiters Changes CRS in Edinburgh.

"In November, they were the first to go, and now they're the first to come back on board again," he says. "A lot of the new technology projects are around cost efficiencies, and we're seeing a large need for developers and user acceptance testers."

He adds that there are also roles coming out of system upgrades within the funds industry.

Predictably, however, firms are becoming stricter about their hiring criteria and experience of working within financial services is paramount.

"It's a good time to be working in financial services IT if you have the relevant experience, but not if you're trying to enter the industry," says Stirton.