The hiring, firing and pay within Scotland's two biggest banks

Given that Scotland has just hosted a high-profile debate on the future of the UK banking system, now seems like an opportune time to highlight just how important the industry is to employment north of the border.

At first glance, Edinburgh - with its focus on retail banking and back office roles - may seem like an odd choice to stage an Independent Commission on Banking event discussing the merits, or otherwise, of splitting retail from investment banking functions.

After all, you might have thought, much of the fall-out would be within the 'casino' banking functions in the City of London. But, as Alistair Darling suggests out in yesterday's Scotsman, if this happens the global banks will "simply pack up and go", while RBS and Lloyds will be stripped of assets by foreign banks.

"That would be a huge blow to Edinburgh. Sadly, jobs have gone, but to lose the headquarters of big banks like RBS would be disastrous, not just for the city and for Scotland," he wrote.

Indeed, but just how disastrous it would be was highlighted in surprisingly (relatively) candid submissions by RBS and Lloyds to the Scottish Affairs Committee inquiry into Banking in Scotland last month.

Lloyds, for instance, has 20,000 staff in Scotland, making it the country's largest private sector employer, while RBS has 15,000 north of the border.

We're late to this, but considering its lack of coverage elsewhere, we thought we'd pull out the most salient points related to jobs and pay within the Scottish operations of these institutions.

Where the jobs are

Two thirds of RBS's Scottish employees are within business services and retail banking functions (which were hit hard by redundancies), 10% are in corporate, business and commercial banking, 10% in insurance and another 10% in group functions. It also employs around 50 people in its global banking and markets division.

Lloyds, meanwhile, has over 450 retail branches and 50 offices in Scotland, and employs people within insurance, retail, wholesale and operations.

Total numbers of jobs lost in Scotland

Interestingly, while Lloyds says that 7,000 people in Scotland have been affected by its redundancy announcements, just 1,300 have actually left. This means that 80% of those have been redeployed elsewhere in the business and just 252 have been forced out through compulsory redundancy.

At RBS, 1,500 people have gone in Scotland through a combination of compulsory or voluntary redundancy or early retirement. Largely this has been within its business services division, group functions and retail and business banking arms. Four jobs have gone within its investment banking team in Scotland, though.

What you can expect to earn

The good news is that the banks still pay above the Scottish average salary of 24.5k, but large pay packets are not on the table. RBS pays an average of 30.5k, but even this figure is bumped up by the presence of some high earning managers and executives in its Edinburgh HQ.

Lloyds pays an average of 28k, but also offers a benefits package which it says equates to an additional 4k. There's also the chance to receive an annual bonus, which averages out at 3k.

Where they're hiring

IT seems like a good place to be if you're looking for work in Scotland's biggest banks. RBS is creating 150 roles as it relocates these functions from the Netherlands, while Lloyds continues to hire contractors to upgrade its technology systems.

Lloyds also highlights the jobs created within Scottish Widows Investment Partnership and customer support divisions (as a result of relocation from Brighton and Chester).

In total, Lloyds currently has 500 vacancies north of the border, while RBS has recruited 855 people to the end of August this year - or 15% of its total headcount increase in 2010 - but insists this is just down to normal staff turnover.