Jobs zone - Scotland

There is a sustained requirement for housing assistants and housing officers, but we are still seeing many employers promoting from within and recruiting at lower levels to fill these roles.

Those professionals with experience of vulnerable client groups and customer services are particularly sought after.

Also in demand are professionals with experience in collecting rent arrears for councils and housing associations and ability to focus on revenues.

In general, salaries across the sector have remained stable and there have been no major increases or decreases.

A housing assistant can expect to earn £19,000-£22,000 working in a housing association, a welfare rights officer £25,000-£29,000, a housing officer £22,000-£27,000 and a homeless caseworker £21,000-£25,000.

We are seeing housing graduates in Scotland being more realistic about their starting salaries and in some places temporary workers are accepting lower wages just to secure some experience.

Although minimal, redundancies are being made across the country and there are higher levels of redeployment in councils than there were before the recession, although this mainly affects senior management. At present, Scottish professionals are quite cautious about the jobs market and so many are happy to stay where they are for now.

Suzanne Hamilton is a manager at Hays Social Housing

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