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Firms favouring permanent workforces, not contract or casual staff
New research shows that Australian law firms may be moving away from contracted or casual staff in favour of permanent full-time arrangements for new employees.
Jerome Doraisamy
The Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) has released its annual Australian Legal Industry HR Issues and Salary Survey, which provides an annual overview of salaries paid in law firms across the country. This year’s survey provides data for 9,785 staff employed across 307 legal offices in Australia.
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Last week, Lawyers Weekly reported that, according to the survey’s findings, most law firms across Australia expect to increase headcount this year, despite significant economic headwinds on the horizon.
The report also found that more than four in five (82 per cent) of respondent law firms, big and small, expect to employ a similar number of permanent full-time employees this year, with 16 per cent expecting to increase the number of such staff. Only 2 per cent anticipate reducing the number of permanent full-time workers.
On the other hand, while a similar number of firms (81 per cent) expect to source the same amount of permanent part-time staff as they did last year, just 7 per cent think they will increase the volume of such staff in 2023, and 12 per cent of firms believe they will reduce how many such staff they look to employ.
Moreover, just 3 per cent of respondent law firms said they would look to employ a higher proportion of contracted (temporary full-time or temporary part-time) or casual staff.
One in three (34 per cent) of Australian firms responded that they would likely employ a lower proportion of contracted staff, and 30 per cent expect to hire few casual staff members.
The findings indicate, ALPMA wrote in its report, there is “continued confidence” in the legal profession, “coupled with a preference for ongoing stability and certainty”.
Reflecting on the circumstances driving law firms to seek a more permanent workforce right now and what that says about the post-pandemic new normal, ALPMA president Stephen van Dorp said that, historically, law firms have favoured staff being on permanent arrangements.
The survey’s findings, he said, show that this sentiment remains in place.
“Staff who have permanent arrangements, whether they are part-time or full-time, are likely to have a greater sense of engagement with the firm given the stability it provides, especially in uncertain economic times,” he explained.
“Engaged employees lead to better outcomes for both clients and the firm as a whole.”
There is also a market view, Mr van Dorp continued, that with the easing of pandemic conditions, firms are seeking to have more staff return to the office.
This push to create connected and supported working environments, he detailed, is more easily achieved with a permanent workforce.
“To attract staff back to the office, firms are redesigning workspaces to prioritise collaboration, enable co-working opportunities and further enhance knowledge sharing as part of the need to provide junior staff with valuable mentoring and professional development opportunities,” he advised.
“The continual global reporting of the benefits of remote/flexible working over the past two to years is likely to see an increase in friction between staff and law firms, if a push for a more permanent return to the office continues.”
“Management of law firms will need to delicately balance their messages to staff about the benefits of having staff in the office more days each week,” Mr van Dorp suggested.
Another reason why firms may be favouring permanent full-time staff over contracted or casual workers is that two in three (67 per cent) of firms expect that the main focus of their recruitment activity this year will be in support of business growth, the report noted.
