Legal Job Market Update.
May 2014 – summed up in a few sentences:
* Permanent vacancies same
* Locum vacancies up on April
* Conveyancing up, Commercial Property up
* Crime down, Personal Injury down
* Litigation & Family up
* Further increase in vacancies attracting no, poor quality or few applications. Commercial property becoming a desert. Conveyancing not far off. Conveyancing Solicitors now as rare as hens teeth.
* Market outlook – still very buoyant. Salaries expected to start rising shortly.
Statistics
Current live vacancies: **588**
New permanent vacancies added in May 2014: **39**
New candidates registering: **113**
Average ‘Job Strength Factor’ for new vacancies in May: **3.15**
Increase/Decrease in new vacancies from previous month: **-5%**
Increase/Decrease in new candidates from previous month: **+10%**
Key points from the KPMG Job Market survey for May 2014:
• Permanent placements growth accelerates, but temp billings rise at slower pace
• Decline in candidate availability intensifies
• Fastest permanent salary growth since July 2007
Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG, said:
“With starting salaries rising at their fastest rate for almost seven years and temporary placements growth slowing down, people would be forgiven for thinking that the time is right to change jobs. Yet the truth is far different. The number of people putting themselves on the jobs market has dropped at its sharpest rate since 2004. It is this shortage of skilled labour that is forcing employers to tempt talent with improved pay, rather than new-found confidence.”
This review is undertaken by a market research company who contact 100s of recruitment agencies across the UK to undertake a monthly questionnaire. We are part of the panel and get exclusive access to the report.
Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment publishes the number of new vacancies, new candidates and indicate the increase or decrease from the previous month. We aim to assist the legal profession by showing the market from our perspective. Traditionally our clients have been high street law firms and smaller niche commercial practices.
The average job strength gives a good indication of the market because:
1. A Poor Job Strength on vacancies indicates a struggling market. When trade is bad, employers seek options for increasing turnover which usually also involves contacting recruitment agencies in the hope that they have candidates with their own following and not looking for a salary.
2. A Strong Job Strength on vacancies indicates a buoyant market, particularly if it is in connection with an increase in numbers of new vacancies.
Vacancies are each graded 1-5, with 5 being a very strong vacancy and 1 being a very weak vacancy.
Jonathan Fagan is Managing Director of Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment and regularly writes the http://www.legalrecruitment.blogspot.co.uk blog, an award-winning selection of articles and features on legal recruitment and the legal profession. You can contact Jonathan at cv@ten-percent.co.uk or visit one of our websites.
