Legal Job Market Report – July 2024 from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, Interim Lawyers and Jonathan Fagan Business Brokers Limited. This is our summary of the current state of the UK legal job market.
Locum Recruitment – Steady
Locum work has increased from last year and is busier as we go through the summer season. Conveyancing cover requests have increased and clients are reporting much larger caseloads than last year. A quick look at the most recently posted roles shows fields of law include commercial litigation, IP & commercial contracts, wills & probate, commercial property. Number one difficulty for recruiting locums remains the preference of a significant proportion of locums to do remote working rather than office-based work. This is still an issue across the UK, particularly for wills & probate.
Locum assignment updates here: https://www.interimlawyers.co.uk/category/locum-solicitor-updates/
Permanent Recruitment – Steady
Permanent jobs posted in June are down by c60% on the previous year, but we see this every time the Euros or the World Cup are on! We still have a wide range of vacancies coming in for fields of law – wills & probate remains extremely popular and difficult to recruit for in all areas of the UK. Corporate commercial, in house, conveyancing and family plus others. A good proportion of permanent vacancies remain unfilled after 3 months – mainly because of the lack of candidates generally in the market.
Permanent vacancies can be viewed here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/vacancies/
New Candidate Registrations – 215% increase
Candidate registrations are a very good indicator for market conditions. Increasing numbers of candidates register with us when the market is going down, and drop when the market is on the up. Numbers are up by 215% compared with the previous year.
Law Firms for Sale – Busy
Busy as ever – but an extremely good time to be listing for sale or requesting a valuation as we are marginally quieter as we go into August. A lot of fresh enquiries coming into us daily for our featured firms.
Full details of firms currently for sale on our website – list updated daily. For valuations, exit planning or a confidential discussion about a potential sale or acquisition generally please ring 01824 780937 and speak to Jonathan Fagan or Taillte Mallon, or email jf@jonathanfagan.co.uk
Ten Percent Group statistics for June 2024 (2023 figures in brackets)
New locum roles added – 29 (17)
New permanent roles added – 21 (59)
New candidates added – 82 (26)
KPMG & REC Report on Jobs UK – July 8th 2024
Candidates placed in permanent positions fall again
Fastest rise in permanent pay for eight months
Staff availability continues to climb
Commentary from Jon Holt, CEO of KPMG UK
“Despite robust national employment data, the latest survey results indicate that employers are still hitting the brakes on recruitment with the general election period causing some uncertainty. Permanent hiring has taken a particular hit, as companies either delay or focus on temporary appointments. This lack of demand means competition for the few roles available continues to drive pay growth. There are signs of momentum in the UK’s economic outlook with overall inflationary pressure easing and consumer confidence growing as we look towards potential interest rate cuts in the coming months. Our economy is slowly turning a corner and the key task for this new Government is to create fiscal policy that improves both long term macroeconomic conditions and creates stability. This will deliver increased confidence for business investment in the UK – accelerating growth, including in the jobs market.”
Commentary from Neil Carberry REC CEO
“Recruiters report companies delayed some permanent hiring decisions during the election campaign. Now a new government has been elected, recruitment firms are looking for that investment to be unlocked. The return of temporary worker demand to positive territory, driven particularly by the Midlands and North, is a sign that the gentle improvement of the last few months is still with us despite the political noise. As policy uncertainty abates, and interest rates drop, we expect permanent hirers to return to the market this summer.”
