Pay for new recruits in city outstrips the rest of Scotland

THE cost of living may be on the rise, but the good news is salaries in Edinburgh are increasing faster than elsewhere in Scotland – in the Capital, the average advertised wage is now £30,396, according to a survey of thousands of jobs ads.

This means wages in the city are soaring ahead of the nationwide average of £29,505, after rising more than £700 in five months.

The news has been welcomed by business leaders, who say Edinburgh is continuing to attract workers from all over the UK and overseas.

Graham Bell, spokesman for the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is very encouraging. We're not in a boom time, but a time when things are continuing to grow steadily.

"There's obviously a lot of talk about the credit crunch, and a downturn in the global markets, but this is having very little effect here.

"The key thing is we are second only to Aberdeen, where the oil industry has inflated salaries.

"This is a reflection of the fact that we have the highest qualified workforce in the UK. We also remain an attractive city for people who want to work somewhere with a high quality of life."

But he said that the survey was based on rates for advertised jobs, which might be higher than average salaries.

Salaries in Edinburgh fell between September and November last year, but are since said to have recovered steadily.

The survey, which was conducted by recruitment website allthetopbananas.com, was based on 14,772 jobs advertised in Edinburgh between last October and March this year. Dave Martin, the website's managing director, said: "People are more concerned about job security than they have been for a while. This could mean employers have had to put salaries up to encourage people to apply."

The most recent Scottish Government figures found Edinburgh had 11.3 jobs for every ten people of working age – although many will be filled by people living outside the city.

Iain McGill, the director of the city-based Harmony Employment Agency, said: "There is plenty of work in Edinburgh if people want it. We've seen salaries go up over the last year.

"However, the cost of living is rising even faster, and people are paying more for basics such as milk, bread and petrol."