This year’s survey comes off the back of another slow year for hiring activity across the UK, with economic uncertainty creating a lack of growth and confidence in the jobs market. Recruitment industry reporting, covering all industries, has evidenced a month on month decline in staff appointments for well over two years and counting.
The legal sector has again proven to be more resilient than most however and we’ve observed a steady, albeit slow, increase in demand for hiring within the legal finance community over the past year. The results of our survey also highlight some positive movement in earnings for legal finance professionals with salary increases and bonuses more widespread.
Hybrid working policies are still adjusting across the sector, with just 12% of participants having to work 5 days a week from the office, down from 21% last year. The most common arrangement is a 3:2 split (2 days remote), with only 13% of participants working fully remote.
When asked which of the two following factors would be the most important consideration when assessing a career move, Salary & Benefits featured in 85% of responses, with Flexible Working Arrangements in second place (65%), followed by People & Culture (30%), Career Growth Potential (20%) and finally Employer Size/Status (9%).
Staff loyalty appears to be at an all-time high however, with 64% of respondents intending to remain with their current employer for the next 12 months, the highest rate we’ve recorded in 11 years of asking this question.
The aim of this survey is to provide an accurate salary benchmark for the different roles that make up the accounts teams of law firms across the country, taking into account regional variances and firm size (Large = 50+ Partners, Medium = 15-49 Partners, and Small = less than 15 Partners).
The prevalence of pay increases rose with 77% of participants enjoying a salary boost during the past 12 months, compared to 72% last year. True to historical form, those in larger firms were the most likely to receive an increase.
The awarding of financial bonuses also increased, with 58% of participants rewarded a bonus, up from 54% in last year’s survey. Once again, the larger the firm, the more likely employees were to receive a bonus incentive.
The results also pointed to an increase in hiring demand across the sector with 12% of participants having joined their current employer within the 12 months prior, up from 9% last year. Large firms saw the most activity with 16% of large firm participants still within their first year, compared to 8% at medium firms and 11% at small firms.
Employees at Medium sized firms appear to be the most content, with only 25% of employees being open to the prospect of switching employer during the next 12 months, in comparison to 30% at small firms and 48% at large firms.
THE REGIONS:
LONDON: Central London only
SOUTHERN REGION: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Wiltshire
CENTRAL REGION: Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, East Anglia, Essex, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire, Yorkshire
NORTHERN REGION: Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, Teeside, Tyne & Wear
WALES: all Counties
If you would like to discuss salary data for your specific location in a little more detail, please feel free to contact Richard Hooper at Balance Recruitment on richardhooper@balancerecruitment.com
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