Quarterly market update from Balance Recruitment - Legal Accounts - October 2011

With ominous headlines about the economy again dominating the news, it will probably come as no surprise that our Q3 2011 market update reports on a slow period within the Legal Accounts jobs market. The summer months are often sluggish and this year has certainly been no exception.

Despite this, we have enjoyed a record quarter, but this has been buoyed through some successful senior level appointments and the continued expansion of our client base. Across the market there has undoubtedly been a decrease in the number of new vacancies arising, and despite a flurry of activity in the first few weeks of September, it seems evident that this cannot be attributed purely to the holiday season. The rate of growth in the jobs market continues to decrease across the UK jobs market with accounting and financial sectors virtually static.

In the Legal Accounts sector, candidate flow has been very consistent with a number of individuals looking to move due to concerns about potential mergers involving their employers or due to major outsourcing processes. Financial Analysts at newly to two years post qualified levels are still in short supply and we have noted a shortage of appropriately experienced individuals whose salary expectations fall within what might be considered “second jobber” level – a knock on effect of the lack of hiring back in late 2008 and 2009.

During Q3 the disciplines which have been in highest demand have been at transactional level, with a number of Legal Billing and Legal Cashiering vacancies arising. There has also been a notable increase in the number of firms seeking to initially hire staff on fixed term contracts, rather than committing them immediately to permanent headcount. A cautious approach which may be considered sensible in the current climate, but one that significantly reduces the talent pool available and can require compromises to be made.

It is again difficult to predict the levels of activity likely to occur as we move in to Q4. Historically, it’s been a busy period within the Legal Accounts jobs market and there are plenty of individuals looking for new opportunities, but we anticipate movement to be driven predominately by churn as people move on and need replacing rather than the creation of new roles and increases in headcount.

If you would be interested to discuss any of the above or related issues in more detail, or if you have any hiring requirements arise within your finance department, please feel free to give me a call anytime.

Any feedback or suggestions for additional information to be included in future quarterly market updates would be very welcome.