Premium for digitally savvy workers

Scottish employers will pay an average premium of more than £9,000 above average salary levels to secure digital experts into their business.

New research by Barclays also found that Scotland was among the highest scoring regions of the UK for workers with advanced digital skills.

The Barclays Digital Development Index 2017 – which is based on analysis of 88,000 UK job adverts and the responses from 6,000 adults – found that 60% of Scots boasted “above basic” digital skills.

That figure almost exactly matched with the level of demand within the economy.

The research found Scottish workers excelled in problem solving but was below average for content creation and coding.

Jamie Grant, head of corporate banking for Barclays in Scotland, said: “In recent years we’ve seen a movement across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion and with improved digital skills returning a range of social, cultural and economic benefits, it is clear why it is of such importance.

“With this come the issues of cyber security and cyber crime.

“Digital safety has never been more important but with Scotland sitting at the half-way point of the UK Digital Safety Index, it’s evident that more can be done to upweight our ability to deal with these issues as well as improving skills.”

Coding skills in Scotland were below the UK average.