Why Scotland still fails to attract international financial services talent

Scotland's financial services industry is still struggling to attract talent from foreign climes, but does it need them currently anyway?

The good news is that, according to the latest annual survey from Talent Scotland, 68% of people it spoke to from America, Africa, the Asia and the EU would consider a move north of the border for a new job.

But, as the chart below shows, the proportion of people interested in moving for a role in financial services is dwindling.

Why so? Talent Scotland says it "indicates the turmoil of the financial sector in the past years continues to have an effect".

Scotland has certainly been hit with some reputational damage on the global stage over the last couple of years. Edinburgh is languishing at 29th in the latest Z/Yen Global Financial Services Index (from a high of 15th in 2007), while Glasgow is 46th, despite recent job creation announcements.

Dougie Adams, economic adviser to the E&Y Scottish Item Club, says that Scotland still suffers from the perception that it fails to offer a "depth of opportunity".

"The main issues about attracting high flyers is that, although the job itself may be attractive, they have concerns about career opportunities in other companies in Scotland," he says. "Also, most of the jobs being created in Scotland are back office, while the headquarter control among major financial institutions is heading south. This affects its attractiveness."

Obviously, Scotland doesn't want to close its doors to international financial services professionals, but it's questionable whether - in the wake of fewer job opportunities than the boom years - there's the same imperative to attract them.

In the investment services sector, Ireland has traditionally been a go-to destination for Scottish funds professionals, but this flow has now reversed, suggests Mike Leeman. But in other areas, where job opportunities are thinner on the ground, there are few candidates from outside Scotland.

"There's not the same influx accountants coming from antipodean countries and South Africa, for example," he says. "But tougher immigration laws for candidates from outside of the EU largely means firms are reluctant to offer sponsorship unless the role is very hard to recruit for."

If there's a perfect candidate from outside of the EU, and someone who fits 75% of requirements locally, employers are generally going for the latter, he adds.