Annabelle Ewing has visited the University of Aberdeen to assess how its commitment to paying the Living Wage has impacted the institution.
The minister for youth and women’s employment said she was “delighted” to be able to visit the city as part of the Living Wage Week.
The university recently committed to pay all staff a minimum of £8.25 an hour – one of 380 institutions across the country to do so.
Ms Ewing said: “In Scotland we have a higher proportion of employees paid the Living Wage than anywhere else in the UK outwith the South East of England and London at around 81 per cent, and we are committed to doing even more.
“The Scottish Government are funding the Poverty Alliance to promote the take up of the Living Wage Accreditation Scheme, in every sector across Scotland, with the goal of having at least 500 accredited employers by the end of March 2016.
“Importantly those employers will also be speaking about their experience of becoming accredited and the difference it has made to them, which is why I am delighted to be at the University of Aberdeen.
“The university became a Living Wage employer earlier this year and I am keen to hear how that has impacted on both staff and the university.”
Ms Ewing also visited chartered accountants Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) to discuss the firm’s youth employment initiatives.
The company recently signed up to support to the Press and Journal’s Apprentice 100 Campaign, pledging to recruit at least one more young person this year.
Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer at AAB, said: “We were delighted to welcome Annabelle Ewing to our office and to be given the opportunity to showcase our very talented team.
“We are incredibly proud of our young people and the various training programmes which we offer to enable them to build a fulfilling and progressive professional career with us and really do see this area of our recruitment initiatives as a significant one which will create the leaders of our future.”