Job hunting in Scottish financial sector becomes ten times more competitive due to Covid

An Edinburgh-based financial recruitment agency has warned of mass employment challenges after receiving more than 350 applications for one job which typically attracts 30.

Mike Stirton, head of temporaries and contractors for Core-Asset Consulting, which is based in Edinburgh.

Industry experts predict an ever-growing pool of applicants in areas such as project management and back office operations due to redundancies and restructures across the country, which have led to a saturation of the job market.

The prediction comes after capital firm Core-Asset Consulting received more than 350 applicants for a project management role, a job that would previously have seen some 30 applicants.

Mike Stirton, head of temporaries and contractors for Core-Asset Consulting, said: “Since the start of the pandemic we have experienced a much higher volume of experienced professionals applying for the same jobs – with applicants often being overqualified for the role.

“What we’re seeing are two factors combining; The first is the natural evolution whereby business’ needs have changed, for example the digital revolution is well underway meaning there are far fewer transformative projects in this space and many more hands-on operational roles have become redundant due to the automation achieved.

“The second factor is the impact of the pandemic that has seen businesses react by cancelling many improvement projects to instead concentrate on more business critical activity.

“Both these factors mean demand for staff in these areas has dropped, which has led to the pool of affected applicants becoming deeper, and it seems likely to continue in that trajectory.

“With many organisations implementing working from home, location is not as pressing as it once was. We’re seeing more job hunters from further afield, such as London, applying for financial sector roles based in Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

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