In May, we looked into which type of employers had the best (or worst) reputation for providing a favorable work/life balance. We learned that law firms lost that contest and then dug deeper to find that boutique and mid-size firms were considered the best of the worst, with most respondents stating that solo shops and biglaw did not provide a desirable work environment. This month, I was curious about what was top of mind for legal techies concerning current employers, so we posted a new poll to find out what legal techies had on their minds when they responded.
Although not exactly a scientific study, the results seem to tell us workers are not as focused on working from home as last year when less than 1/5 of jobseekers even seemed willing to consider taking a new job where they would have to work in an office. That period was ruled by Covid variants running rampant worldwide. In addition, our research showed that workers did not seem to be too concerned about benefits as none of them selected benefits as their hot button item in November of 2021.
The question asked in the latest poll was this:
Which of the following \’employer\’ issues is most important to you TODAY? This was a quick one-day poll as we wanted to gauge the climate for that extended moment in time. Here are the responses:
Most important to me TODAY is:
00% Maternity/Paternity Leave
39% Work From Home Policy
28% Salary Level
33% Benefits Package
I know maternity and paternity leave is a hot topic for those about to have or considering having a little one, but it did not seem to be on the mind of any respondents today. I believe if we had asked these same questions last year, most people would have stated their company\’s work from home policy was the essential item on their agenda at the time, but with just over a third of the votes today, it seems things may be calming down a bit on that front. Salary received nearly a third of the votes. Still, interestingly benefits ranked higher than salary in importance with precisely 1/3 of the votes – that\’s a significant change from November when we asked a similar question when no one cited benefits as their primary concern.
What does this all mean? As I mentioned before, this is certainly not a scientific study. Still, as I review the results and think about what I hear from people in the legal tech community, I believe things are starting to normalize in the job market. Legal tech workers seem to be switching from thoughts and actions caused by pandemic influences to more of the classic work/life influences we see during regular times. I talk to many people about their jobs consistently, and most of the folks in our industry seem to have settled on a hybrid setup allowing them to work from home at least part of the time. Many of them had to negotiate new terms with their employer or switch jobs to get the setup they desired, but it seems to be leveling out. I believe that many employers will retain a partially remote or hybrid setup going forward. For better or for worse, it seems we may have reached the new \”post-pandemic\” normal. We will continue to check in with the legal community and keep track of any new developments. Check out our new poll in which we survey the legal tech community to find if people are still thinking of making moves or if they have settled in for the time being.
David A. Netzer
President
Legal Tech Talent Network