The Abrivia Recruitment 2015 Salary Survey has revealed key indicators of Ireland’s economic recovery. The data was compiled from a survey of 4,000 companies and 45,000 employees across multiple industry sectors. The key highlights are:-
30% increase in roles from 2013 to 2014 within the legal private practice teams
22% of in-house legal teams surveyed plan to grow their legal head count in 2015
Legal Sector Statistics:
Private Practice (Legal) Highlights
40% increase in the total volume of Private Practice Lawyer vacancies received in 2014 compared with 2013 levels. This is supported by the Top Tier Law firms who are planning on increasing their headcount even further in 2015. There has been 24 new vacancies with the top tier law firms registered already in 2015.
Increase in demand for Corporate, Banking, Funds and Property lawyers continues. There is a continual high demand for Lawyers with international law firm experience at the 1-3 year PQE level.
In-house (Legal)
26% increase in the total volume of in-house legal vacancies compared with 2014 levels. The main areas that saw the largest year-on-year growth were in Financial Services, Funds and Property teams. Aviation continues to be an area where the demand for candidates outstrips the number of professionals who work in the market.
Banking & Financial Services (Legal)
38% increase in the total volume of Financial Services Legal vacancies received in 2014 compared with 2013 levels. Demand for funds and tax lawyers continues with recently qualified to three years PQE being in the highest demand. Key roles tend to be within fund houses (both admin and investment) retail and corporate banking.
Salary & other rewards
62% of Law firms surveyed expect salaries to increase in 2015. Roles in the above sectors will continue to increase as will the demand for talented candidates. 56% of employees surveyed said that their basic salary was the important part of the reward package, followed by work-life balance (flexible working week, working from home, etc.) at 21%, bonus (7%) and amount of annual leave (5%). Over the last number of years most companies either paid very small bonuses or none at all. As a result employees have placed a reduced emphasis on it.
