Legal Recruitment – still an uncertain market
Each month we run a comparison between the last calendar month and the same time period in 2018 to see if there has been any noticeable difference in view of the extreme political uncertainty. In May 2019 we saw a 42% decrease in the number of new permanent vacancies compared with the previous year. April had seen similar reductions.
How was June?
In June 2019 we saw a large and somewhat unexpected increase of 77% in new permanent vacancies compared with June 2018. We also saw an increase in locum roles for the same time period. At present the market is defying all trends – for 20 years we have seen very similar patterns of work – vacancies increase from April to August and then decrease from September December, before increasing gradually to March. In the present marketplace this pattern has been completely disrupted. We had reports from firms a few months ago that the market was extremely quiet and this was coupled with reports from candidates that redundancies were occurring in the property sector as sellers were waiting to see the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. However for the past 4 weeks we have had a number of property locums offered permanent roles and new permanent property jobs being logged because firms are so busy, so this is clearly not currently the trend.
We are still seeing a good number of new locum registrations, which are much higher than usual. Again we would like to think that our Interim Lawyers platform has become very popular in recent weeks, hence the large increase in the numbers of locums registering, but a number of them are citing ‘lifestyle’ as a reason for becoming a locum and this is very often code for ‘looming redundancy’.
KPMG and REC Report on Jobs
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 placements decline for fifth time in six months
Temp billings expand only slightly
Vacancy growth holds close to multi-year low
KPMG
Comment: “Brexit stagnation continues to seize up the jobs market as
the slowdown in recruitment activity continues. Permanent staff
appointments fell again in June, the fourth month in a row, while
subdued confidence ensured that growth in temporary billings remained
historically weak. As we approach the summer holidays, the worry is that
vacancy growth – which held close to a multiyear low in June – is
unlikely to bounce back as firms take a relatively cautious approach to
hiring. Uncertainty is also likely to further dampen staff availability,
as candidates are reluctant to change roles at this time. Looking
ahead, conditions across the labour market are likely to remain
restrained against a backdrop of political and economic uncertainty
before companies can start to make more informed decisions on
their long-term hiring.”
Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) Comment: “The jobs market has slowed a little, but one issue which shows no sign of relenting is the shortage of qualified candidates in some areas. [I’ve edited this comment to remove a rant about the Apprenticeship Levy!].
Statistics
General Statistics for June 2019 (comparison is with June 2018)
Current live vacancies: 987
New permanent vacancies added: 69 (39)
New locum vacancies added: 28 (22)
New candidates registering: 85 (38)
June 2019 – Live Jobs (comparison with June 2018 in brackets):
London vacancies: 174 (177) (-1.75%)
South East: 427 (447) (-4.5%)
South West: 88 (90) (-2%)
Midlands: 74 (68) (+8%)
North West: 109 (106) (+2.75%)
North East: 74 (74)
Wales: 33 (30) (+10%)
We have 41 law firms for sale at the moment – for details of law firms for sale please click here to view our list.
