Recruiting Trends for the Legal Industry in a Changing Workforce
In this article discover the trends relating to market demand and talent attraction in the legal industry in Melbourne. These are the highlights of our Director Sharon Henderson’s recent presentation to the Victorian ALPMA HR Workshop. Read on to discover what you need to know, whether you are recruiting for your firm, or a talented legal candidate looking for a new challenge.
Our Director, Sharon Henderson recently presented to the Victorian ALPMA HR Workshop in Melbourne. This event teams up industry experts with Legal Industry HR professionals and Practice Managers to network and develop skills to deal with the challenges they face in their roles.
Recruiting Trends in the Changing Workplace
Sharon spoke about current recruitment trends in the changing workplace. These trends are particularly relevant for firms recruiting over the next 6-12 months and for lawyers who are no longer challenged or excited about their existing role.
There is no doubt we are currently experiencing a period of continued growth alongside rapidly changing technology and workplaces. Market demand, hard to fill roles and a candidate tight market are conditions that we as recruiters have become used to over time.
Market Demand
In 2019 market job demand in the legal industry remains fairly stable. We have seen a marginal decrease in jobs advertised that are classified as legal by -0.07% from the prior year. This was off the back of quite a strong performing 2018 year where there was 16.7% growth in legal jobs advertised (Source: SEEK Analytics).
Hardest Areas to Source Talent
There are many areas of law where it is difficult to find candidates that have the requisite skills and experience. In 2018, based on analysis from SEEK, Legal positions represented 10 out of the top 20 hardest to fill roles in the country, with roles in the Healthcare & Medical sector also consistently ranking in the top 20.
Firms that are recruiting in these areas in the coming months should be aware of the shortage of talented candidates keen to change roles in these areas. It may have implications for the time it takes to fill a role.
Market Demand 2019 Compared to Previous Years: Lawyers
At Legal People we continue to see strong demand for lawyers and legal support staff. The table below indicates the areas where we have seen strong, moderate and a decline in demand based on the roles we have been briefed on by our clients.
| Strong Demand |
Moderate Demand |
Decline Demand |
| Corporate Commercial |
Litigation & Dispute Resolution |
Property |
| Front End Construction |
Planning & Environment |
Family |
| Employment & Workplace Relations |
Insurance |
Personal Injury (Plaintiff) |
| Legal Secretarial roles |
Tax Law |
|
| Legal Counsel |
Wills & Estate Planning |
Diversity
We continue to see a diverse range of candidates. In 2019 the gender split of candidates that applied for lawyer roles was 56% female and 40% male (Source: SEEK Analytics).
The recently published ALPMA survey also found that 58% of lawyers employed by firms are female.
A 2019 Legal Firm Survey conducted by Pitcher Partners identified that female grads in law outnumber male grads 2-to-1.
However, women make up one-third of non-equity Partners in Australia and only 16% at equity Partner level.
We need to be doing more in our attraction and retention staffing strategies to address the issue of gender diversity in the partnership pipeline, otherwise there will be a real succession planning issue for law firms in the future.
Talent Attraction Strategies used by Melbourne Law Firms
ALPMA’s recent law firm survey identified that turnover rates in law firms average 21% for fee earners and 26% for support/other non-fee earning roles. It’s not surprising that employee retention/recruitment remains the biggest challenge with 70% of law firms surveyed indicating this remains a top HR challenge.
So what strategies are law firms using to attract and retain talent?
Pitcher Partner’s law firm survey indicated the single biggest attraction strategy used by firms in 2019 is offering talented candidates flexibility . This “perk” is becoming the new normal and it can play a critical role in widening the talent pool in a candidate tight market.
In a recent survey by IWG Global Workplace, 4 out of 5 people surveyed said if given 2 similar job offers they would take the 1 offering flexibility. In this same survey, 85% of the Australian firms suggested they would offer flexible working to attract and retain top talent.
In Legal People’s experience, some 25% of lawyers we recruited last year secured flexible working arrangements. This is compared to just 9% in 2018.
This statistic and this shift in corporate culture in the legal industry is often a surprise to candidates entrenched in roles for many years. We speak to many people that think that flexibility is only offered to long term staff who have “earned” the privilege or those returning from paternity leave. It really is changing, and it is an exciting time for the industry who have been slow to embrace this change enabled by technology and remote access to systems.
Flexibility is not just being used by working parents, it is offering candidates a chance to volunteer, to pursue further studies, to sit on boards and to have an interest outside the workplace. It is perhaps also an excellent tool to help manage mental health and workplace stress.
What else do Candidates want?
We are seeing a big focus on candidates wanting learning and development opportunities, including those relating to soft skills such as mental health & building resilience, techniques to manage workloads and workplace stress, better communication, leadership and mentoring in addition to coaching on business development and marketing.
We are also seeing firms offering financial and non-financial KPI’s to help their staff achieve their annual bonus.
Candidates also want clear career progression opportunities.
The Changing Workplace
Technology continues to make dramatic inroads into the legal industry. As recruiters we are also making the most of technology to streamline systems and processes. These include:
- Law firms are embracing robust HRIS systems with strong data protection - these help firms with on-boarding, performance, productivity, engagement compliance and staff retention.
- Companies are utilising on-line reference checking platforms such as X-ref or Referoo to streamline their recruitment process.
- Google Jobs has been introduced in the USA and UK in an attempt by google to monetise the many job searches performed on their search engine. This will be an interesting space to watch in the coming year to see what impact this will have in Australia once it is rolled out.
How Should Firms Respond to a Candidate Tight Market?
In our opinion the market for quality legal candidates will continue to be tight for the foreseeable future.
This means that talented candidates often field multiple offers.
To secure high quality talented staff firms will need to:
- Act quickly
- Move to a proactive rather than reactive recruiting framework
- Manage their talent pipeline. We recommend identifying the key areas of recruitment in your business over the next 5 years
- Think outside the square. This may mean looking at transferable skills and/or offering flexible working arrangements
- Manage your succession planning and revisit it regularly
- Ensure your graduate intake levels are adequate to cover 2-3 years down the track
HR managers in law firms should educate their stakeholders and key decision makers about current market conditions so that they can manage expectations. Being across the market trends can put you in a good position to attract talent to your firm.
It is a great time to be a talented lawyer in Melbourne. The world really is your oyster. If you are a talented lawyer get in touch! We can help you take the next step in your high flying career.
Legal People is your gateway to the best legal career opportunities. We are specialists in the Legal Industry and recruit Lawyers, Support staff and HR professionals in Melbourne, Australia. If you enjoyed reading this article, you can follow our Company Page on LinkedIn for regular updates.
