Banks
Derivatives lawyers have also remained highly sought after with banks, hiring between 1 and 10 years’ PQE. These are niche skillsets, and with fierce competition to secure these lawyers, the supply is unable to satisfy the demand. Hiring managers who are less willing to compromise on the profiles they’ll consider struggle the most to fill these positions. However, we’ve also seen cases where hiring managers have been prepared to look at bright, well-trained lawyers from other disciplines (e.g. banking and finance) and that flexibility has led to hires who have gone on to be really successful. After a slow start to the year, we gradually saw the recruitment market return to normal activity levels as we progressed through Q2. As the market began to pick up following bonus season, there was increasing demand for more transactional lawyers within the fund finance, real estate finance, derivatives and capital markets space. With more competition for top talent, salary demands increased accordingly.
This led to a similar pattern to what we observed in 2022, with banks having to stretch budgets in order to secure their preferred candidate, leading to a knock on effect of banks struggling to keep new joiner salaries consistent with existing employees. With the market now at a level more typical of what we were seeing last year, it is imperative that banks continue to do what they can to stand out versus their competition. When considering how to attract top talent, the key areas of focus include salary, culture and flexibility. However, as salaries in private practice continue to rise, it is becoming increasingly difficult for banks to compete. One way some in-house legal teams have succeeded in hiring top talent has been adopting a more flexible approach in terms of hybrid/remote working, which has been especially attractive for candidates who live further away from London.
“With the market now at a level more typical of what we were seeing last year, it is imperative that banks continue to do what they can to stand out versus their competition.” 8
Market Overview London
2023
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