Legal Job Market Report – October 2025 – from Ten Percent Legal Recruitment, Interim Lawyers Locum Legal Recruitment and Jonathan Fagan Business Brokers Limited.
Here is our summary of the current state of the UK legal job market.
Locum Recruitment – Busy
Locum assignments have not increased significantly in number, but our locum department is reporting very high levels of activity, mainly because the overwhelming majority of new locum assignments being registered in the last 4 weeks have been fully or mostly remote. Each remote working locum role attracts significant interest from our 1,500 locums, so we find ourselves undertaking an extensive shortlisting exercise for quite a few assignments. Small signs of conveyancing hourly rates falling, but they are still high. Litigation rates and roles have increased for solicitors thanks mainly to the Mazur case.
Locum assignment updates here.
Permanent Recruitment – Quiet
Permanent roles are generally a bit muted, although there is still activity from both candidates and firms. There remains a huge gap between interest in roles from candidates and vacancies being posted, together with a disparity between salary expectations of candidates and firms. No signs of any change here.
Permanent vacancies can be viewed here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/vacancies/
Law Firms for Sale – Busy
Lots of activity in the M&A sector – new sellers making tentative enquiries, existing and new buyers looking at options. We are often affected by the PII timelines – traditionally a lot of SME law firms have their renewals through and September tends to be the month quite a bit of activity takes place.
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 call 0800 246 5016 or email jf@jonathanfagan.co.uk. You can also download our free detailed guides on Buying a Law Firm and Selling a Law Firm
Ten Percent Group statistics for September 2025 (2024 figures in brackets)
- New locum roles added – 16 (20)
- New permanent roles added – 16 (41)
- New candidates added – 41 (90)
- New firms listed for sale: 1
- Firms for sale: 41
- Deals going through (heads of terms signed): 14
Commentary:
Locum roles have declined slightly, but there has been an increase in remote working roles which has made our life a lot busier. Permanent jobs have decreased by over 50%. Candidate numbers are down significantly on last year, but we have no clear indication at this stage yet as to why this is. Candidate numbers are a very good indication of market conditions.
KPMG & REC Report on Jobs UK – October 2025
This is a monthly report prepared by KPMG following a questionnaire sent to over 400 UK recruitment consultancies, including ourselves.
- Slower, but still marked fall in permanent placements
- Starting salaries close to stagnation in September
- Demand for staff falls and candidate supply rises rapidly
Commentary from Jon Holt, CEO of KPMG UK
““With very little positive news out there on the economy in recent months, and lots of speculation about the Budget, it is understandable that employers are cautious with their hiring. But despite these headwinds, our annual CEO Outlook revealed this week that chief executives are more upbeat about future growth prospects for their industry and the UK economy than might be expected. The jobs market has not yet turned a corner and remains tough, but we saw stabilisation in some of the numbers last month. While the public finances provide little room for manoeuvre in November, some clear signals from the Chancellor that build on business confidence will hopefully support renewedhiring as we head into 2026..”
Commentary from Neil Carberry REC CEO
“Recruiters have been reporting a trend towards stabilisation in the permanent job market since the summer, and today’s data backs that up for September. The temporary market remains somewhat healthier, with growth in some regions. We can hope that the jobs market and the economy may be moving towards calmer waters, but falling vacancies is a reminder that what is really needed is a shot of confidence in the wider economy to get things going.”
