I just reviewed the number of new jobs we’ve been asked to take on since January 1, 2024, and found that to date, we have received 56% fewer jobs this year than the same time last year.
Having placed thousands of business services professionals over the past 28 years, as well as reviewing the data regularly, my take on this current downturn in hiring is:
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Many new roles were created and filled in 2022 so there is less need to create new roles now.
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Because interest rates are still high, transactional work in law firms has slowed, which impacts hiring.
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The economy is in a state of uncertainty because of the upcoming election, so law firms are holding back on adding new business services roles.
Looking deeper at the current state of hiring in these areas, I see that business development and communications/PR roles at all levels have had the biggest drop off. Recruiting roles are still active, especially positions that support lateral partner hiring. Professional development roles have remained solid.
I have lived through eight recessions in the legal world over the past 30+ years and a few things I’ve witnessed during down times are:
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Not all law firms are affected the same way when things slow down. Firms that are well-positioned and have visionary leadership actually thrive when the economy slows down by acquiring other firms and/or lateral partners.
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Even when hiring is down, there are still great job available.
Interestingly, although the number of roles we have received is down over 50%, the number of placements we’ve made in the first 7 months of 2024 is the same as we did this time last year!
Why? Because the firms hiring right now are more intentional about why they’re doing so, and candidates are not just shopping around but sincerely interested in making a smart move.
We are deeply committed to capturing market trends and sharing them with you. On that note, if you are BD/marketing professional in law firms can you please take a few minutes to complete this survey. We appreciate your participation and are eager to share the data with you this fall.
If you are in recruiting, we will also be conducting surveys for NYCRA and LRAP later this year. Stay tuned for more details.