Recruiting firm Hays has formed a strategic partnership with FinTech Scotland to help nurture future fintech talent in Scotland.

The move is hoping to maintain a “healthy pipeline” of tech talent going forward after research indicated that nine of the top 20 salary increases this year were in Scots fintech roles.

The Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2022 report revealed an increased demand for such roles, and the partnership between Hays and FinTech Scotland, using Hay’s global network, will play a vital role in helping Scottish fintechs expand abroad.

To address the demand for Scots fintech roles, Hays’ specialist division, Hays Technology, said it would support the Scottish fintech cluster in recruiting for skills in fields such as cybersecurity, mobile banking, cloud applications, AI and blockchain solutions.

Commenting on the data, Nicola Anderson, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, said: “Since we launched FinTech Scotland in 2018, we’ve been working closely with Skills Development Scotland, Scottish universities, businesses and government agencies to ensure that skills providers are meeting the needs of tomorrow’s financial community.

“Having access to Hays’ extensive knowledge and data research on how best to attract the required skills makes them an ideal partner to help us fulfil our objectives, whether it’s for start-ups, scale-ups or established organisations.”

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According to the data, security architects saw a salary increase in 2021 of 17.3%, the highest increase within Scotland’s top twenty, whilst DevOps (IT development and operations) roles saw a 10% boost.

Additionally, Hays found that around two-thirds of Scottish employers have increased salaries this year, with 71% planning to do so again over the next 12 months.

Other roles within the top 20 salary increases are in engineering, marketing and procurement – which are also skills sought after by innovative fintech firms. Overall, salaries across Scotland increased by 2.6% in 2021.

Justin Black, director of Hays Technology in Scotland, added: “Clearly, the high demand for tech roles that we’ve seen in recent years continues and salaries are increasingly rising as a result.

“This is great news for Scotland which is the largest fintech hub after London. But we need to make sure that the talent pipeline is sufficiently healthy to fulfil the demand going forward.

“Through our recruitment knowledge, best practice and global network, we will be able to inform FinTech Scotland’s strategy, ensuring that the demand for fintech skills is met, and maintained, with a healthy talent stream.”

In October, research conducted by FinTech Scotland revealed the growth of international fintech SMEs in the SME community by more than 40% this year, complementing the growth of local startup and growth enterprises and showing signs of a growing interest in fintech in Scotland.

Companies such as WeFund from Australia, Pulse Market from Ireland and YayPay and Pace AP from the US have become part of the growing FinTech Scotland community.

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