THE wages of workers at a major bank’s Glasgow base are reportedly closer to those it pays in India than in America.
JPMorgan Chase’s workers in Scotland’s biggest city are paid less than their colleagues in Texas, according to The Economist.
The magazine reports that while the Glasgow workers earn more than their counterparts in the subcontinent, they are closer in pay to people working in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad than in America.
Workers in India once cost around a quarter of what someone based in Glasgow would, but that is now “over half”, according to The Economist.
The US investment bank opened a base in Argyle Street, Glasgow in April 2024.
The Economist, in a piece arguing that Labour should embrace Britain’s status as a cheap place to do business, which it has dubbed the “Poundland strategy”, said: “Well-educated British workers are cheap, too.
“Feeble wage growth and the clobbering sterling took after the Brexit referendum has made them cost-competitive, especially in services, including consulting, IT, law, human resources and the like.”
When JPMorgan Chase opened its Glasgow office, it claimed to employ 2600 people in the city.
Speaking at the time, Lori Beer, the company’s chief information officer, said: “Time after time, Glasgow has proved itself to be a rich hub of tech talent and innovation, and today we are doubling down on being a part of the local community here.”
The then-first minister Humza Yousaf (below) added: “JPMorgan Chase is one of the country’s largest technology employers, and this renewed commitment to the city acknowledges Scotland’s skilled workforce and our reputation as a centre of excellence for finance and technology.”
Another piece in The Economist notes that “Britain is cheap”, adding: “Real wages fell for years after the financial crisis and have been slow to recover. Sterling took a beating after the Brexit referendum. That adds up to an appealing proposition for would-be foreign outsourcers.
“As recently as 2014, average weekly earnings in Britain were near-equivalent in US dollar terms to those in America. Today American wages are 30% higher.”
India has a rapidly growing economy but is still marred by extreme poverty, with 35.5% of children under the age of five experiencing stunted growth due to malnutrition, according to the World Bank.
It is understood that JP Morgan Chase attributes the pay gap narrowing between Glasgow and India to wages rising in the latter country.
