Look at Scotland

Scotland has a population of just over 5 million (expected to reduce over the next decade) in an area of 30,000 square miles that includes 600 square miles of freshwater lochs. Maximum distance north to south is 275 miles and from east to west 150 miles. It has 2,300 miles of coast, 790 islands and a 60-mile land border with England.

There are 270,000 private-sector enterprises in Scotland, employing nearly 2 million people. Thirty per cent of all workers are managers, 11 per cent are supervisors, 23 per cent are skilled and semi-skilled, 12 per cent are unskilled and 6 per cent work for themselves, leaving nearly 20 per cent long-term unemployed.

Gross domestic product is around £82 billion (more than £16,000 per head) for a labour force of around 2.5 million people (75 per cent of all those of working age). Total expenditure for Scotland is £41 billion, while total receipts (excluding North Sea revenues) are £32 billion, leaving a net deficit of £9 billion that is found through borrowing.

The working age population is 62 per cent of the whole with another 19 per cent being children and a further 19 per cent retired. There is an average of 165 people per square mile, with the majority living in the central area around Glasgow (population 1 million) and Edinburgh (population 500,000).

Scotland is home to over 150 aerospace-related companies, employing some 30,000 people in total, and accounting for 4 per cent of gross value added (GVA) in manufacturing. The chemicals industry has been prominent for 150 years, with an annual output in excess of £3 billion, and employing 14,000 people with a need for scientific and technical employees.

Construction turnover is around £11 billion, mostly concentrated in and around the main cities. Scotland’s 300 contact centres employ 60,000 people, mainly in the financial services, telecoms, utilities, retail, motoring, technical support, travel and media sectors. Digital media and creative industries are worth annual sales of £5 billion and provide up to 100,000 jobs.

The energy sector encompasses 2,000 businesses, with 110,000 jobs and £7.4 billion of output, with the power generation capacity expanding considerably. The financial services industry accounts for over 113,000 direct jobs, growing at twice the pace of the UK as a whole and now worth £6 billion. Food and drink has annual sales of around £6.5 billion and a workforce of 50,000 people.

Scotland has the second largest life science cluster in the UK and is therefore one of the biggest clusters Europe, with 590 organisations employing over 29,500 people, and a main focus on human healthcare. The microelectronics and optoelectronics industries employ over 25,000 staff and contribute nearly £2 billion to Scotland’s GVA. The shipbuilding sector primarily manufactures and supports naval ships and specialist, complex vessels. From just 20 per cent of the UK’s output a few years ago, the country now has 50 per cent of the UK’s naval shipbuilding and refit capacity.

Nearly 500 companies in the textiles industry employ 20,000 people, while tourism makes a significant contribution to the service sector. GVA has risen from £2.2 billion to £3 billion in just five years, with an 11 per cent increase in overseas visitors.

Scotland has 13 universities, six specialist higher education institutions and 43 further education colleges. There are more than 275,000 students of whom 42 per cent gain undergraduate degrees and 21 per cent are awarded postgraduate qualifications. The rest are working for other qualifications.

Employer news

World-famous companies including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, Thales, Babcock and Raytheon have a significant presence in aerospace and shipbuilding, while major chemical companies include AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Fujifilm and Exxon have Scottish operations based on raw materials derived from North Sea oil and gas, as well as chemical and pharmaceutical operations.

Companies like O2, Dell, IBM, Hutchison, Direct Line, Esure, Morgan Stanley, Thomas Cook and BSkyB operate contact centres in Scotland, while the life science cluster includes Charles Laboratories, Invitrogen, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Organon, Serologicals and Viragen.

Opportunities and skills shortages

Many employment vacancies prove hard to fill, including engineering, transport, nursing and childcare assistants, hairdressers and travel agents, while most small businesses believe that a shortage of skilled trades people has worsened recently.

Construction activity over the next decade will include housing, a harbour, the M74 extension and numerous other developments planned. Skills shortages across all trades mean that 75 per cent of construction companies have recruitment difficulties.

Salaries

A rough guide to annual salaries is given below. This is inevitably very general and there will be variations between industries and also in various parts of Scotland. The pay gap between men and women is the largest in Europe.

Manual £12,000 to £20,000

Semi-skilled £15,000 to £25,000

Skilled and supervisory £20,000 to £30,000

Managerial £25,000 to £40,000

Executive £38,000 and upwards

House price guide

The following prices are a rough guide only to property prices and are liable to overnight change as financial factors in the country as well as in the region affect housing.

Location 2-bed flat 2-bed terrace 3-bed semi 4-bed detached

City £90,000 £110,000 £200,000 £330,000

Town £70,000 £90,000 £140,000 £270,000

Country £50,000 £70,000 £90,000 £220,000