Hays Legal
January - March 2012
HONG KONG Hotspots
Within the corporate sector M&A, IPO and private equity candidates are sought. Those with skill sets in banking and finance are needed to provide legal insight for capital markets (ECM and DCM).
Current requirements and new law firms entering the Hong Kong market both from the UK and US are resulting in an increased demand for these lawyers in an already candidate short market.
Overcoming skills shortages
Employers are looking at their existing workforce and utilising secondments to fill some of the gaps. Where a company has had an opening for some time, they are demonstrating more flexibility and are willing to reduce some of their requirements, such as language skills, albeit reluctantly to secure talent.
The coming quarter
Law firms will continue to make replacement hires and new roles will continue to open up as practice groups expand. We expect all roles to be permanent. Employers are experiencing very busy periods and remain reasonably optimistic in relation to ongoing market demand.
Employer trends
Strong Chinese and English speaking abilities continue to remain high on employer wish lists, along with technical expertise. Salaries are remaining at market level with only moderate annual increases; this is the same with bonuses where they apply. Recruitment timeframes are dependent on the availability of partners to attend interviews so can be shorter but can also be longer.
Candidate trends
Magic Circle and top tier law firms now have the US law firms to contend with. US law firms can offer increased salaries, sometimes doubling those of the Magic Circle firms. Candidates are therefore keen to move to US law firms for the money, which is creating more gaps for the Magic Circle and other non-US firms.
