Fall in applications in the legal sector ‘concerning’ – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Legal employers are facing a concerning growth in skills gaps as applications more than halve in a month. That’s according to the latest insights from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The data, provided by Veritone Hire, revealed that the number of people applying for permanent jobs in the sector fell a staggering 60% between April and May 2024 – the largest decline noted over the last year.

Applications for contract roles where also down during the same timeframe, falling 58% month-on-month in May.
While vacancies have also declined, this slowdown was far less notable than applications. Job posting fell 27% for permanent and 23% for contract positions between April and May 2024.

As Ann Swain, Global CEO at APSCo explained, this disparity in the rate of decline between applications and jobs is worrying.

Swain said, “The fall in job applications being noted across the legal sector is certainly of concern.

With the UK economy in a state of limbo as the General Election nears and uncertainty over interest rates continues, the drop in new job postings is to be expected.

“However, the decline in the number of applications is falling at a far greater – and rather alarming – rate. Businesses are going to face a real battle for the best professionals when the economy picks up once again.”