Legal Recruitment – busy market
Each month we run a comparison between the last calendar month and the same time period in 2019 to see if there has been any noticeable difference. In December we saw a 63% decrease in the number of permanent vacancies registered with us and a 100% increase in the number of locum vacancies..
So how was January 2020 compared to January 2019?
We saw an 8% decrease in the number of permanent vacancies registered with us and a 6% decrease in the number of locum vacancies. It has been a quiet January in terms of vacancy registrations – we usually see a large surge immediately after the New Year, but that did not happen in 2020. The market is busy generally, although in house roles are scarce. Permanent recruitment is still happening and locum assignments are starting to pick up nicely.
Statistics
General Statistics for January 2020 (comparison is with January 2019)
Current live vacancies: 1013
New permanent vacancies added: 33 (36)
New locum vacancies added: 16 (17)
New candidates registering: 55 (64)
We have 33 law firms for sale at the moment with another one potentially coming to market this month – for details of current law firms for sale please click here to view our list.
Candidate Database Statistics – January 2020
London Candidates: 3058
Midlands Candidates: 1191
North East Candidates: 845
North West Candidates: 987
South East England Candidates: 4836
South West England Candidates: 512
Northern Ireland: 22
Scotland: 64
Wales: 393
KPMG & REC Report on Jobs – February 2020
The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies (including the Ten Percent Group).
Key Findings
Permanent staff appointments increase modestly…
…but temp billings fall for first time since April 2013
Permanent staff vacancies rise at quickest pace since last March
Comment from KPMG:
“Following the UK exit of the EU, there are promising signs that the UK
jobs market is finally on the up with the strongest rise in permanent
places for over a year – good news for job hunters. However, with
regulatory and trade negotiations all to play for, there is still a long
way to go for a deal to be struck and businesses to have the clarity
they need. Brexit is unchartered territory so the reality is the
uncertainty will linger..”
Comment from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation:
“It’s good to see that businesses have grown in confidence over the past two months and taken the opportunity to restart hiring. Permanent placements are up again, and demand for staff has risen at the quickest rate for ten months.. But the upcoming IR35 reforms are having a negative impact on the availability and placement of temporary workers. It is vital that people pay the right amount of tax and that the system is fair, but for both of those things to happen we think the government needs to pause and think again on how IR35 changes. The temporary labour market is being stifled, and that’s not good for employers or our economy.”
