The jobs market remains buoyant. 54% of HR leaders expect their headcount to grow and demand continues to outstrip supply in a candidate short market. The national unemployment rate is at a record low of 3.5% the lowest since 1974 and 1.7 points below March 2020 when the pandemic first struck.
The highest areas of demand are in Banking and Finance, Corporate, Property, Insurance, Commercial Litigation and Employment law.
Some trends we have observed are:
- Biggest jump in roles was insolvency, Increasing by up to 67% but from a small sample size so to be treated with a grain of salt.
- Insurance roles stayed consistently high this quarter
- A 79% decline in family roles
The main level of hiring was at the mid associate / manager level, although reporting a slight drop from last quarter by 8%, whilst other roles at a lower seniority such as Junior Associates and managers rose by 30%. There were zero Director / Partner roles listed this quarter.
| Area | Q3 FY22 | Q4 FY22 | % change | |
| Banking & Finance | 43 | 47 | 9% | |
| Corporate / M&A | 59 | 51 | -14% | |
| Employment | 35 | 37 | 6% | |
| Family | 14 | 3 | -79% | |
| In House | 39 | 35 | -10% | |
| Insurance / Reinsurance | 45 | 45 | 0% | |
| Litigation / Dispute Resolution | 49 | 48 | -2% | |
| Real Estate | 39 | 34 | -13% | |
| Regulatory | 20 | 21 | 5% | |
| Personal Injury | 24 | 21 | -13% | |
| Insolvency | 3 | 5 | 67% | |
| Tax | 9 | 7 | -22% | |
| Technology | 27 | 34 | 26% | |
| TOTAL | 406 | 388 | -4% | |
| Seniority | Q3 FY22 | Q4 FY22 | % change | |
| Department / Div Head | 4 | 6 | 50% | |
| Director / Partner | 5 | 0 | -100% | |
| Junior Associate / Manager | 10 | 13 | 30% | |
| Mid Associate / Manager | 276 | 255 | -8% | |
| Snr Associate / Manager | 163 | 157 | -4% | |
| TOTAL | 458 | 431 | -6% |