TEN years ago it would have been unthinkable; now it is entirely understandable. According to a new report, the majority of students and young professionals in Aberdeen are considering leaving the city within the next few years. Concerned about the economic health and potential of the oil capital, two-thirds of Aberdonians aged between 16 and 35 told the accountancy firm PwC Scotland that they believed their best chances might lie elsewhere. They wanted to stay, but felt they might have to go.
No one knows how many of those young professionals will end up staying or going, but the fact that many are considering their options is a blow for the city. Before the drop in oil prices, Aberdeen was the stand-out economic performer in Scotland, the economy was buoyant, unemployment was low and even the recession of 2008/09 seemed to leave the city relatively untouched. But in recent months there have been clear signs of trouble: air passenger numbers and hotel occupancy down, many more people claiming benefits, house prices suffering, and now 16 to 35-year-olds thinking about going elsewhere.
As Jenny Laing, the leader of Aberdeen City Council, says, the answer lies in two areas, the first of which is maximising the recovery in the oil and gas industry. The picture is not entirely bleak thanks to decommissioning, which offers some economic opportunities; small firms are also helping to drive some expansion and investment. But bigger firms could catch up by working much more closely together; the UK Government should also look again at more tax cuts and financial incentives.
The second area of potential recovery is diversification. A city economy based on one industry will always be vulnerable to downturns in that industry, but, supported by much more investment from the Scottish Government, more firms could diversify into renewables for example as a potential source of income for the area in the future. There are clearly other issues to address in Aberdeen’s recovery – investment in improving Union Street for example – but PwC’s survey of young professionals should act as a spur to local and national government to do much more. The city’s young professionals want to stay - they just have to be given the reasons to do so.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel