Lloyds may be about to cut more jobs, but most banks are recruiting in Scotland

In an ominous sign that the mooted 15,000 redundancies earmarked at Lloyds Banking Group will hit Scotland, we're told that any recruitment at the bank has dried up in recent weeks. The good news, however, is that most other banks are recruiting north of the border.

Lloyds is still declining to comment on what it calls "speculation" surrounding the rather scary prospect of 15,000 further job losses, which could see layers of management stripped out and its international operations stripped back.

Scotland is likely to feel its fair share of pain from any cuts, but for those potentially in-line for redundancy, they're coming out to a relatively buoyant job market.

Tesco Bank and Virgin Money are still in the midst of relatively aggressive hiring sprees, while Barclays, HSBC and RBS are still offering opportunities. In fact, the only bank to go off the radar recently is Lloyds, suggest recruiters.

"We're seeing a large number of roles coming out of most major banks in Scotland, across risk, change management and business analysis. The banking market is busier than it has been for a long time," says Mike Leeman, manager, financial services at recruiters Bright Purple.

Why the reluctance to hire at Lloyds? It could be because the bank is planning on scaling back, or simply because securing sign off for a permanent position has been increasingly difficult.

If a department wishes to make a hire, they must first receive approval from a panel of senior executives on something called a "cost board", suggest sources. Assuming they're successful and kick-start the recruitment process, they must go back to the cost board to receive another green light once a suitable candidate has been found.

Lloyds is believed to be hiring for roles related to the workout of its Irish portfolio, as well as some accountancy hires, but the recruitment process is increasingly considered overly-lengthy for most candidates.

"The good news for anyone seeking an operational banking role, is that Scotland still has two banks in relative infancy - Virgin and Tesco - and they're still fairly aggressive when it comes to their recruitment plans," adds Mark Beacom, operating director at Michael Page in Scotland.