BSA 2024 Legal Salary Guide v3 SPREADS - Flipbook - Side 14
14
Salary and bonus trends
In 2021 and 2022, we saw strong upward pressure
on starting salaries across in-house legal and
CoSec teams due to 昀椀erce demand and ongoing
talent shortages.
The market is still struggling with a scarcity
of suitable candidates, but hiring intentions have
been curtailed by budgetary concerns and the long
shadow cast by private practice starting salaries.
That is not to say departments feel they are wellresourced. On the contrary, our conversations with
in-house legal and CoSec employers reveal many
would like to expand their teams, yet the cost of
doing so is currently prohibitive.
Salary in昀氀ation has therefore been more subdued
over the last 12 months, but talent scarcity has kept
it above historic averages. Most of the growth that
occurred was also con昀椀ned to junior and mid-level
roles, typically covering professionals who have
between two and eight years’ PQE.
Employers intend to
increase base salaries
by 4% on average
(down from 7% in 2023)
Nevertheless, with the heat coming off the market
in 2023, fewer employers have reported that salary
demands are too high. Whereas more than a third
(37%) said candidates’ expectations were not at all
aligned with what they could offer in 2022, just 10%
said the same last year.
As was the case in our 2022 report, senior roles did
not experience the same rate of pay improvement,
meaning the salary gap between candidates
at different levels of seniority continues to close.
“Hiring has become very expensive for in-house
teams,” says Mario Pafundi, Consultant at Barclay
Simpson.
With regards to bonus trends, there has been little
change since last year. Approximately four-昀椀fths
(81%) of professionals said they received a bonus
in 2023, with the average payout amounting
to 27% of a candidate’s base salary. Sector and
company size play a major role in bonus payouts.
Banking and larger traditional 昀椀nancial services
typically offer around the 20% range but have very
competitive wider bene昀椀ts.
“Most departments want skilled lawyers whWo can
come in, tackle the workloads and reduce external
counsel spend. But with salaries going up and up,
even relatively junior lawyers now have very high
salary expectations.”
Meanwhile, smaller 昀椀rms and particular sectors
like private funds or private equity often pay
out 50-100% bonuses. These are typically accompanied by relatively basic bene昀椀ts and potentially
less 昀氀exibility.