04Permanent recruitment trendsIt was a year of highs and lows for the in-houselegal and company secretarial (CoSec) recruitmentmarket in 2023. The strong demand that characterised 2021 and 2022 spilled over into the 昀椀rst halfof the year, but this was offset by hiring activitytailing off signi昀椀cantly as 2023 progressed.“Legal and CoSec recruitment remained verybusy until the midway point of last year,” saysTom Boulderstone, Head of Legal and CoSecat Barclay Simpson.“We are still seeing pockets of activity acrosscertain sectors, disciplines and skillsets, but overallthe market is quieter now than it has been for quitesome time.”Insurance 昀椀rms and 昀椀ntechs are bucking the trend,with in-house legal hiring staying relatively buoyantacross these industries. Trade 昀椀nance specialistsand those with strong fund structuring experiencealso continue to be highly sought-after due to skillsshortages in these areas.A decrease in M&A activity last year had adetrimental effect on hiring within the space,with private practice teams having already hiredheavily in 2022. However, private equity andventure capital – especially at the early stageof investment – remained reasonably busy.On the whole, the CoSec space has held up slightlybetter than in-house legal recruitment, with 昀椀rmsstill looking to bolster their teams with growth hires.Most departments have commented on the needto add resources to ensure they can create morevalue rather than simply supporting boards andcommittees, which has become the primary focusdue to a lack of resources.Meanwhile, 昀椀nding suitable in-house legal andCoSec candidates remains an ongoing challengefor employers. All of the organisations that wepolled acknowledged some degree of dif昀椀cultyin securing skilled talent in the current landscape,with approximately a quarter (24%) consideringit ‘very challenging’.66% of employersintend to hireadditional permanentstaff in 2024Within in-house legal jobs speci昀椀cally, a signi昀椀cantfactor impeding recruitment has been the sustainedincreases in private practice starting salaries overrecent years. This has disrupted both in-house salaryexpectations and the talent supply pipeline, a trendthat we will discuss in more detail later in this report.Against this backdrop, remuneration continuesto be the biggest obstacle for employers hiring inthe current market. However, the percentage oforganisations citing salary demands as an issuedropped from 80% to 71% between 2022 and 2023.Conversely, there was a notable increase inemployers identifying a lack of technical orregulatory knowledge among candidates(52% versus 43% in 2022). Remote working policiesare also a growing problem during the recruitmentprocess. This issue was cited by 24% of employersin 2023 – nearly double the previous year.
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