Dive Brief:
- According to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of U.S. legal jobs dropped by 1,500 in March 2017, Recruiting Times reports. This correlates with other industries that have experienced a general downturn in jobs in the first quarter of 2017. Through the first three months of the new year, a total of 4,000 legal jobs were lost overall.
- There are concerns that additional job losses may occur in the legal market, due to a slow recovery process since the last recession. Per Recruiting Times, K&L Gates legal firm released staff from at least four U.S. offices, including paralegals, secretaries and IT professionals.
- In April, legal jobs rebounded by a count of more than 1,000, Law360 reports. The estimated total of positions going into May still does not make up for losses over the first three months of 2017.
Dive Insight:
Like other professional service industries, the legal sector has suffered job losses steadily since 2017. The opposite trend has been observed in certain regions of the country, including Nebraska, where a lack of legal talent has since driven firms to train high school students to fill a key skills gap.
Certain legal jobs, however, are certainly not immune from creeping automation. In fact, half of millennials in a recent study said they were interested in jobs that could conceivably be automated. This trend probably didn't have as much of an impact on the recent short-term legal losses, but it is worth noting the recruiting impact automation will have on the law and other professions.
Companies that employ legal staffers may find themselves with an influx of applicants going into the summer, which can be a boon for businesses hit with additional regulatory pressures.
