Jobs numbers in three areas of the legal sector are set to rise significantly this year.
Jobs numbers in three areas of the legal sector are set to rise significantly this year.
Activity in construction, financial services and corporate transactions will drive the boost in legal jobs, according to a recent survey by Robert Walters.
Thomas Eckardt at Robert Walters said that increased work flows in 2015 will mean that hiring activity in those areas will be higher than usual.
“Corporate activity has definitely seen an increase and in financial services there have been changes in regulation recently and as a result of that, financial services companies are looking to keep up,” explained Thomas Eckardt at Robert Walters.
Signature Consulting managing director Steve Cole said that recruiters have already noticed an increase in hiring due to hefty workloads.
“Deals are happening, which is fantastic for the market,” he said. “Whilst people were working at full capacity but comfortably a year ago, they’re now overrun and need to bolster the teams to help get the work done.”
Hiring new talent could become a challenge this year with an increase in the number of jobs and fewer candidates at the 3-5 years PQE level, a result of graduate recruitment reductions during the GFC.
“All of these areas have been recruiting consistently since mid-last year, so a number of those people at the level that the law firms are looking for have already made the move, so they are going to be harder to find new people who are going to be looking to move again,” Eckardt said. “At that 3-5 PQE level, there were obviously fewer people taken on three to five years ago due to the global economy so there is a skill gap at that of level.”
Legal salaries are predicted to increase again this year following the lifting of freezes in 2014. According to the report, permanent salaries are expected to grow year-on-year on average by 5.8%.
