Legal BD & Marketing Recruitment Trends in H1 2023

​So far in 2023, at the senior end of the market, we have seen an increase in BD & Marketing roles at both UK and US headquartered law firms, with a fair few of these being new headcount. We have also seen an uptick in Communications roles within US headquartered law firms.

Firms are recruiting outside of London

With the talent shortages still making hiring challenging, more firms are starting to open their roles up to their EMEA offices so not just relying on the London market.

We have had senior roles across Milan, Paris, Brussels and Germany. Where possible, we expect firms to continue to be more location agnostic when it comes to hiring.

Non-management BD & Marketing roles

We have also seen a gradual uptick in Business Development roles at the junior to mid-level. Whilst we are always busy in this space, the number of BD roles has increased significantly since the beginning of the year.

However, outside of BD, there have been fewer junior/entry-level roles across the market than last year, for example at Administrator, Assistant or Coordinator level. Whilst there has been a mixture of PR, Digital, and Events positions, we are light on these types of roles in comparison to last year.

The market continues to be competitive for talent with most candidates being involved in multiple job processes.

Despite this, we have seen firms being more considered when it comes to hiring. This has generally led to longer processes, more interviews, and unfortunately in some cases a higher number of candidates falling out of processes.

Getting the balance right between thoroughness and speed in a process will be key to securing talent this year.

Salaries

Salaries have increased significantly across the board over the last 18 months and some firms are still going through a process of recalibrating where some of their bandings should sit.

As the market continues to be very competitive, we still expect there to be pressure on salaries, particularly as it seems to be such a strong motivating factor for candidates moving roles.

Counter offers

Counter offers continue to be very prevalent in the market. Following a fierce year of hiring, firms and their hiring managers have been very aware of the challenges of replacing headcount and therefore have been even more motivated to retain their current staff.

In some instances, we have seen this lead to even more sizable counter offers and more candidates accepting those offers.

This is something to be aware of for employers and job seekers alike and we recommend seeking advice around the best course of action given our research tells us that counter offers very rarely ensure mid to long term retention of candidates.

Hybrid working

Finally, hybrid working is still highly sought after and most (if not all) clients are offering some form of remote working. Candidates have a preference for 2 days in the office in comparison to clients who continue to push for 3.

Candidates will compromise on 3 days in the office but find anything more than this off-putting. Hybrid and flexible working is still a strong talking point for employers, with firms still trying to get the balance right between offering flexibility while retaining a strong company and team culture.

For more in-depth market trends, download our latest BD, Marketing & Communications Market Trends Report here.

You can also download our BD, Marketing & Communications salary guide here.