Flexible working becomes top priority for lawyers

More than 80% of lawyers consider flexible working to be more important than salaries when job hunting, according to a recent report.

The annual report, conducted by legal recruitment consultancy Realm Recruit, highlighted that 81% of lawyers consider salary as their highest priority, while 83% said that flexible working was their highest priority. This change in priority from last year has perhaps stemmed from the remote working that was enforced across the country as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, just 70% of lawyers selected flexible working as their highest priority with this year marking the first time that it has knocked salary from the top spot in this annual survey.

The respondents also named more holiday allowance, better culture fit and prospects of promotions as other important factors if they were job hunting.

This news comes as firms continue to battle it out in a newly qualified (NQ) lawyer pay war.

Clifford Chance recently raised its NQ lawyer salaries to £107,500 to match the base rate of fellow magic circle firms Allen & Overy LLP and Linklaters LLP. Meanwhile, regional commercial law firms are also reportedly increasing NQ salaries, according to recent research, as they try to keep pace.