LABOUR market conditions are improving in Scotland, where manufacturers and call centre operators expect to create jobs in coming months.
The latest survey for the Manpower recruitment firm points to a marked increase in confidence in Scotland since June, with a growing proportion of employers prepared to take the risk of recruiting staff.
As 4% more employers expect to hire staff than to cut employee numbers in the next quarter, Manpower said "employment prospects in Scotland are firmly in positive territory". The survey for the previous quarter produced a positive balance of just 2%.
Amanda White, operations manager, said Manpower has noticed a definite increase in prospects in Scotland.
"Our manufacturing companies have really led the way as they up production for a number of local products, from oatcakes to soap to haggis," she said. "The other strong area this quarter is call centre recruitment, where we are seeing several of the larger companies advertising new roles."
Salespeople are also in demand.
The findings provide further evidence the recovery in Scotland has gathered the pace required to provide a boost to the labour market.
The latest PMI survey for Bank of Scotland found employment increased for the ninth consecutive month north of the Border in August and at the fastest rate since June 2007. The overall PMI reading of 58.3 for business output was a record for the survey, although lower than the 60.8 points for the wider UK.
While the PMI findings suggested Scotland outperformed the UK average in job creation in August, the Manpower survey results indicate the position may reverse in coming months.
A balance of 6% of UK employers expect to create jobs in the next three months, compared with five percent in the previous survey. The outlook for employment in the UK at the end of 2013 is set to be the best for six years.
Finance and business services employers seemed the most confident, with a balance of 16% planning to recruit staff.
Manpower's UK managing director, James Hick said big banks have a new spring in their step.
But he added: "Job creation in the sector is actually all about fixing the mistakes of the past and avoiding problems in the future."
Manpower reckons banks will have to recruit many more staff to deal with claims for mis-selling products like Payment Protection Insurance. Early this year it estimated
Some 20,000 jobs had been created by big banks to service PPI claims.
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