The number of legal jobs advertised last quarter has dropped according to the latest Elias Job Index.
But Jason Elias, of Elias Recruitment, said that the lower number of jobs advertised may not be all that significant to the legal job market and that the previous period, around Christmas time, saw a lot of resignations and hires.
“The drop is not in my view significant and day to day there is still a sense of buoyancy… especially in the Sydney market,” he said.
The past quarter saw 18 fewer vacancies advertised than the previous one, a total of 228 vacancies, nearly 70% of which were in Sydney. The slow start to the year could be put down to to the slow weeks in January and the uncertainty over a pending election, Elias said.
While the number of banking and personal injury lawyers has taken a tumble, demand is still high for corporate and M&A lawyers, the index found.
“There is still business confidence and deals are getting done,” Elias said.
“Lots of optimism in the tech space, for example fintech, life sciences and apps. Hopefully the long election period does not create uncertainty which can sometimes delay deals.”
Sparke Helmore remains one of the biggest hirers, with 14 vacancies advertised during the first three months of 2016, along with Gilbert + Tobin, which advertised 16 vacancies in the same period. Fast-growing
Mills Oakley advertised 13 open positions.
