When it comes to starting a new career, Scottish workers have the most self confidence as to how far they can reach and this level of optimism is driving up the amount of revenue that they take home in their pay packets. This finding comes as a result of an economic confidence tracker which looked at the state of play across the whole of the United Kingdom. The study found that approximately 69% of Scottish workers felt that they could comfortably manage their role and look forward to the various options which they had on offer to them in their future careers. This gave them more confidence that they would be able to fulfil their potentials and enjoy a comfortable standard of living.
This level is higher than the national average of 60% and is also the highest level recorded across the UK. When it came to longer term prospects, a similar trend noted which was just over the national average and indicated that they were confident in their career potential and their ability to progress on to senior roles with in the same job for the next five years. These findings help bring more confidence to the Scottish economy and the way different businesses feel with regard to investing in new equipment and technology to make their jobs and businesses better. This helps to offer a better service to consumers as well as ensuring that they can manage and can offer an affordable service to everyone.
The findings are also driving up the rate of pay confidence with workers in a variety of sectors across the country expecting a 5.2% pay rise with in the next year. This illustrates that they are more confident in their own abilities when doing the job and feel that they are helping to increase the businesses output and level of service to different consumers. This figure stands significantly higher than the national average of 3.8% and makes Scotland’s pay inflation expectations second only to London where a 5.6% pay increase is anticipated.
Reggie McMahon, Branch Director, Scotland, at Robert Half, commented:
“Business growth prospects across Scotland are high, largely driven by fast-growth sectors such as renewables and technology. This is arguably one of the core drivers of the high level of confidence being seen in the labour market compared to the rest of the UK. However, it’s no secret that some of our largest sectors are also those that are facing significant skills shortages. When we combine this with the high confidence levels in the workforce, it’s perhaps no surprise that Scottish staff are looking for greater pay rises than the majority of the UK.
“For firms across the country, though, salary increases on this scale aren’t going to be feasible, particularly for the large number of SME businesses that underpin our economy. To combat this scenario, a more robust talent attraction package that showcases more than just pay prospects is required. Offering additional perks and benefits packages or clear training options, for example, will appeal to new recruits and existing staff. Those employers that strike the right balance will be best placed to hire core skills in the months ahead.”
Small businesses in Scotland are more upbeat than they have been for two years, a small business group says.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Small Business Index for Q1 2024 revealed that business optimism has risen to a positive score of 10.7 on the index, surpassing the UK average of 5.5.
The FSB says the optimism is likely due to increasing consumer expenditure and overall economic growth. Despite this, it warned of the persistent challenges faced by smaller firms, as many reported decreases in revenue and staffing levels.
Andrew McRae, FSB Scotland policy chairman, said: “It is very welcome that we are starting to see the first green shoots of economic recovery, with nearly two in five small businesses in Scotland planning to expand in the coming year.”
