More financial services contractors in Scotland are seeking the security of a permanent role

Scottish financial services professionals were slow to move into contracting in significant numbers, but when it became apparent that it was both more lucrative and offered plenty of new job opportunities, many have learned to love the interim route over the last two years.

Things are changing.

As we've pointed to previously, the Scottish financial services job market has rather suddenly gone frosty. Par t of this is down to a quiet time of the year for new hires anyway, but a number of international organisations with operations north of the border have implemented recruitment freezes in line with practices globally.

For contractors, this also means a lack of new opportunities, sometimes when contracts are coming around for review.

"In the current climate, contractors are realising that there's a definite increased risk that another position will be offered when their current deal expires," says Mark Beacom, manager - financial services at Michael Page in Scotland. "In such circumstances, it's understandable that more people are trying to secure permanent roles."

More worryingly for some, recruiters are reporting instances of people being laid off mid-contract as projects are either cancelled or postponed because of organisation changes.

"I think that the contract market is struggling slightly more than permanent recruitment currently, but it's still too early to tell whether this is a pronounced trend or just down to the time of year," says Mike Stirton, divisional director of Core Asset Solutions, the new interim-focused arm of recruiters Core Asset Consulting.

One of the most notable areas of contract recruitment to dry up is in the investment operations sector. Previously, a number of the larger firms were undertaking large change management projects across the organisation, which have been ongoing for a couple of years now. Any new hiring has largely stopped, suggest recruiters, while most contractors are not being offered an extension.

"Long-term contractors are not suddenly looking to take a permanent position, but those who moved into the interim space during the last two years have tried to gain a full-time position because of the need for increased job security," says Stirton. "Many contractors have multiple skill-sets, whereas others took to contract route because of a specific opportunity, and that opportunity has now dried up."