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Drop in legal hiring revealed
A new report has highlighted a decrease in the number of legal jobs being advertised from the first to second quarter of FY18.
Emma Musgrave
According to the Elias Legal Jobs Index, the end of 2017 saw a slight drop in legal hiring, with a 4.49 per cent decrease in legal jobs advertised from the first to second quarter of FY18.
This was followed by the IP/technology/media, which recorded a 55 per cent decrease; property, which recorded a 46 per cent decrease; and employment law which recorded a 35 per cent decrease.
However, there were some practice areas which recorded strong vacancy growth across Q2 2018, when compared with Q1 2018.
Vacancies for the energy practice area increased some 400 per cent, followed by criminal with 200 per cent and pro bono with 100 per cent, according to the index.
In-house positions also enjoyed strong growth, with 30 in-house jobs advertised across company/commercial and corporate/M&A in Q2 2018. This marked a 200 per cent increase on the previous quarter, the index found.
“The energy sector was one of the biggest winners in the second quarter of FY18, with a jump from one position to five over the two quarters. This may reflect Australia’s shift to renewables as energy costs soar, with NSW now receiving one-fifth of its energy from renewable sources,” said Elias Recruitment’s Jason Elias.
“Increasing compliance requirements ahead of the federal government’s new National Energy Guarantee may also be bumping up demand for energy lawyers.
“In-house also made gains as companies, banks and the big four bulked up on internal teams. Banks represented 26 per cent of in-house hires in the second quarter of FY18. As an area consistently in demand, this will be good news for many lawyers currently in private practice.
“The upshot? With legal hires continuing to be steady despite increasing competition from NewLaw and the big four, it’s a promising market for candidates.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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