Balance Recruitment report signs of market enthusiasm returning to the legal job market

The team at Balance Recruitment, a leading recruiter within the Legal Accounts sector in London, are entering their third year of trading in 2010, and after a strong final quarter of 2009, have seen a very encouraging start to this year, and are pleased to report a sense of optimism returning to the job market.

Candidate flow has increased significantly since the turn of the year, with a number of permanent employees stating that, as a result of the recession, they’ve stayed longer at their current employers than they had initially intended, and are now eager to move on and face new challenges and a different working environment.

Richard Hooper, who heads up Balance Recruitment’s Legal Accounts desk, comments:

"In addition to these 'active'  jobseekers, we are in touch with a large number of 'passive' jobseekers who are waiting expectantly for the outcome of current budgetary reviews that will determine potential salary increases over the next few months. We anticipate this will see many individuals move to a more ‘active’ jobseeker status which make for some exciting times ahead."

Vacancy flow has also continued to increase in recent weeks. Q4 last year saw a slow but steady climb in the number of new vacancies entering the market and, save for the first two weeks of the year, this has continued in to early-February. The outlook longer term is hard to predict, and will again be clearer once budgets have been finalised for the new tax year.

Areas of most demand within the 'legal accounts' sector include Billing, Revenue Control and Collections, with firms eager to ensure their working capital management is as strong as possible in what looks to remain a challenging business/financial climate. The vast majority of active roles on the market are within these fields, with no other area notably in higher demand.

At a senior/executive level, the legal market has been stable for long time, with only a handful of key vacancies arising over the past 6 months. There has been a small increase in the number of roles within the 0-3 years post qualified category, balanced fairly evenly between permanent and fixed term contract assignments.

If you would be interested to discuss any of the above or related issues in more detail, or would like to receive our quarterly updates by email, please feel free to contact Richard Hooper on 02070720964 or at: richardhooper@balancerecruitment.com.