City struggles to find 2300 new recruits

THERE are more than 2300 job vacancies in the Capital, despite a slight increase in unemployment, it has been revealed.

According to the latest figures produced for the city council, the number of available jobs in the first quarter of 2008 was 2367, up from 1459 during the same period last year.

The jobs are mainly skilled and spread across transport, communications and financial services industries, with fewer vacancies in the hotel and restaurant sector than at the same point last year.

Across the Capital, the number of unemployed people seeking work has risen slightly from the last quarter of 2007, from 5222 to 5435, which is around 1.7 per cent of the population.

While the seasonal increase will not be seen as much of a problem, filling the large number of skilled vacancies may be a little more worrying, with the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce warning that the city was feeling the affects of a worldwide skilled labour shortage.

Spokesman Graham Bell said: "These figures throw up a lot of interesting points, but they have to be seen in a global context.

"Sydney in Australia has called for thousands of more workers, and California has been advertising for workers.

"There are shortages everywhere, and so Edinburgh has to make sure it has the infrastructure to provide for people to come and work here."

He added: "This is one of the most inviting cities in the world to work in, but if we don't have the houses, schools and public transport then it will be hard to convince people to move here and fill these jobs."

Today's figures also show the worst areas in the city for unemployment were Muirhouse/Drylaw and Craigmillar, with both having just over 50 per cent of the local population in employment, and around 200 unemployed people claiming Jobseeker's allowance.

The quarterly bulletin also revealed that over the last quarter, more jobs had been lost to Edinburgh than gained, with the biggest cause for concern the relocation of around 100 jobs from SportScotland.

There was also the loss of 14 highly skilled jobs at Stem Cell Sciences, which announced it is to move it base from the University of Edinburgh's King's Buildings to Cambridge.

More jobs were lost with the closure of the Gala Bingo in West Granton last month following an 80 per cent drop in customers over two years, which was blamed on the smoking ban, the growth of online bingo and changing bus routes.

There were also new jobs coming in however, with the computer giant Dell beginning fresh operations in the Capital in early February.

The new office on Multrees Walk employs 30 finance specialists, adding to its 830 staff in Glasgow, and the firm said the move underlined its commitment to Scotland.

Councillor Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development convener, said the reports would ultimately help the council build up a detailed picture of employment in Edinburgh.

• Edinburgh City Council website
• Chamber of Commerce website