As always, we start with a big thank you to all the ILFM members who took time out to contribute to this year’s survey.
We’ve now sliced and diced the numbers and can reflect on how the economic environment of the last 12 months has impacted salary growth, with regional specific data and comparisons between the responses from small, medium and large law firms.
Industry-wide salary growth tends to correlate closely with trends in hiring, and with the low levels of demand witnessed throughout 2023 we anticipated a fall in the prevalence of pay increases and bonuses this year, which the results of our survey have shown (details below). The percent growth of pay increases and bonuses have also reduced slightly from last year.
Hybrid working policies have also been shifting in favour of more time spent in the office. In this year’s survey only 24% of respondents could work from home for either 3 or 4 days per week, in comparison to 38% last year. The number of respondents able to work fully remote has remained unchanged at 16%.
Despite the above, there’s been no movement in the proportion of individuals planning a career move within the next 12 months, with 59% of respondents hoping to remain with their current employer, the same figure we saw last year.
Hiring firms should take note however that 82% of respondents to this years survey placed Salary & Benefits as one of their top two most important considerations when assessing a new career opportunity, with Flexible Working in second place, followed by People and Culture, Career Growth and finally Employer Size & Status.
The aim of this survey is to provide an accurate salary benchmark for the different roles that make up the accounts teams of Law Firms across the country, taking in to account regional variances and firm size (Large = 50+ Partners, Medium = 15-49 Partners, and Small = less than 15 Partners), reviewing which regions are seeing the highest levels of staff movement and assessing the intentions of employees to remain with their current employer for the year ahead.
- The prevalence of pay increases dropped this year, with 72% of respondents having seen salary growth over the past 12 months compared to 79% last year. Those at Large firms were most likely to receive a raise (82%) followed by those at Medium (70%) and Small firms (69%).
- Financial bonuses were also less common, with 54% of respondents receiving one during the last year, down from 58% in our 2023 survey. The larger the firm, the more likely you were to receive a bonus, with 73% of Large firm employers enjoying a financial boost, compared to 55% at Medium firm and 44% at Small firms.
- 2023 saw a steep decline in hiring demand from the hectic days of 2021/2022, with only 9% of respondents having changed employer within the prior 12 months (down from 18% in last years survey). Mid-tier firms appeared to see the most movement, with 13% of participants from Medium firms having joined within the last 12 months – compared to 12% at Large firms and only 7% at Small firms.
- Despite the higher likelihood of salary progression and bonuses, participants currently employed by Large firms were again the most likely to consider a career move this year, with less than half (48%) unwilling to consider a new opportunity within the next 12 months. Employees of Medium firms appear the most contented, with 64% planning to stay put over the next year, closely followed by those at Small firms (63%).
If you would like to discuss salary data for your specific location in a little more detail, please feel free to contact Richard Hooper at Balance Recruitment on richardhooper@balancerecruitment.com
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