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How working hours are being impacted by COVID-19
A substantial number of lawyers have seen their working hours affected by the global coronavirus pandemic, with even more predicting hits to their hours in the near future.
Jerome Doraisamy
To understand how the measures are being digested across the Australian marketplace, Lawyers Weekly’s sister brand My Business commissioned Momentum Intelligence to create an ongoing survey of a cross-section of Australian business owners and employees – including those operating in the business of law.
A total of 6,740 responses were received, and the results were evenly weighted across each industry.
Last week, Lawyers Weekly reported that the survey found 72 per cent of lawyers are satisfied with the government’s handling of the pandemic thus far, two in five lawyers have a reduced workload in the wake of COVID-19, 55 per cent of business owners/managers in law have seen a decrease in revenue since the outbreak of the pandemic, and that self-perceptions of mental health are tracking well.
Impacts on current working hours
Respondents identifying as legal professionals were 1,175 persons, comprised of business owners, directors, senior managers, principals, C-suite execs, employees, retirees and unemployed.
When asked if their working hours had been reduced as a result of the pandemic, 30 per cent of lawyers said “yes”. Seventy per cent of lawyers said “no”.
Lawyers, it appears, are faring worse on this metric than other industries, with fewer professionals in mortgage and finance broking (29 per cent), accounting (22 per cent), financial services (22 per cent) and defence (21 per cent) having seen their hours reduced.
Only real estate (50 per cent) and aviation (61 per cent) have a greater proportion of professionals seen their working hours decline.
Predicted impacts on future working hours
There also exists a troublingly large cohort of legal professionals who presume their hours will be impacted in the near future as a result of the pandemic.
When asked if – over the next three months – lawyers think their working hours will be reduced, two-thirds (67 per cent) of those whose hours have already been cut expect further decreases in their working hours. Only one-third (33 per cent) of those whose hours have already been cut think they will be able to stave off further reductions.
Among those lawyers whose employers have not yet cut their working hours, just over one-quarter predict they will eventually cop a reduction in their hours, while almost three-quarters (73 per cent) think they will be able to avoid decreases in their working hours over the next three months.
More about the survey
The dynamic COVID-19 Business Confidence Survey serves as a barometer of how businesses, and working Australians, are adapting to the changed working and social environment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will enable us to map attitudes, confidence and business activities as they evolve by market sectors revealing which industries and professions are adapting most effectively to the “new normal”.
The first instalment of the survey report is expected to be released this week.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
