‘Talent tipping point’ coming in industry?

Mar 18, 2016

Written By Jack J Collins, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

A study by Deloitte has suggested that the traditional talent acquisition will reach a tipping point by 2020, and that the sector needs to have a rehaul of its system of attracting, developing and retaining up and coming talent.

The analysis has shown that automation of particular services, alongside the changing needs of clientele and the growing number of millennials in the workplace is going to significantly change the nature of applicants and trainees in the future.

The report estimates that nearly 40% of jobs within the sector have a high chance of becoming automated over the course of the next 20 years, and although 30,000 jobs have been lost to technology already, the overall increase of 80,000 legal jobs and the fields those increases are in (barristers and solicitors mainly) suggest the quality of jobs in the sector are increasing.

Peter Saunders, lead partner for professional practices at Deloitte, said: “Advances in technology mean that an ever greater number of traditional, routine tasks within the legal sector can be automated by smart and self-learning algorithms. Some firms are already making use of virtual assistants or e-discovery tools. However, there is more that the legal sector can do to use automation and technologies.

"Further technological advances over the next decade mean that future skill requirements across all roles will change. Our report shows that firms have already identified a mismatch between the skills that are being developed through education and those currently required in the workplace. Employers will need to look for lawyers who are not just technically competent, but who have a broader skill set.”

Further research has shown that by 2025, 75% of the global working population will be millennials, and this means the end of the ‘over supply’ which has up to now allowed firms to select the best candidates. Retirements of partners, alternative career options both in and out of house, and a slowdown in appropriately skilled workers may mean that the market will become employee, rather than employer, led.

Saunders added: “In the future, the most successful law firms will be those that can prioritise the demands of the next generation and take innovative approaches to recruitment and agile working.”

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