Drop in job applications for legal sector

With the legal sector already experiencing skills shortages, new research shows that the number of people applying for jobs decreased significantly last month.

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) report, using data provided by Broadbean Technology, found a noticeable drop in applications in the second half of 2022, which plummeted 49% between January and February 2023.

At the same time, job vacancies continue to grow with figures revealing they are up 16% year-on-year.

The report also shows that average salaries increased across the legal sector during the second half of last year, rising by almost 11% and 13% respectively when comparing January and February in 2022 and 2023.

Ann Swain, CEO of APSCo, said, “While our research is showing a level of upheaval in the jobs market – with vacancies reporting peaks and troughs over the last five months as concerns around the economy grew – the standout data is the fall in applications across the legal sector.

“February reported the second lowest number of applications over the last year, marking a 49% drop month-on-month. While vacancies also fell during this period, this was on a much smaller scale, down just 17%.

“This suggests that the skills gaps in the sector are widening at an alarming rate.”

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