Remote Work: Employee Freedom, Employer Struggles

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic typical employment benefits offered by employers as incentives to employees included perks such as: private healthcare, life insurance policy, travel incentives and even profit sharing.

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly altered employee expectations about work incentives, with a strong focus on hybrid or fully remote work models. Employees now value hybrid working more than any other benefit provided by employers, and if this option is not available, they will look for job opportunities elsewhere.

A recent report from City firms found that by failing to offer remote working options acted as a significant barrier to acquiring new talent, as candidates paid little to no attention to vacancies that are refusing to offer any form of hybrid work.

The result: City firms are running at an 80% + vacancy rate.

Salt Mountain Recruitment indicates that candidates and employees favour remote work to bypass the 1.5 to 3-hour commute required for working in the City. This preference allows employees to achieve a better work-life balance, as cutting down on commuting time translates to more personal time outside of work.

Furthermore, remote work provides employees with a more laid-back form of supervision, as the emphasis on physical presence or the idea of being the 'first to leave' is greatly diminished.

Employer Response:

According to The Times, City Firms are countering the demand for hybrid working by withholding bonuses from employees if they cannot meet a minimum threshold of physical attendance in the office.

As an additional incentive, employers are offering enhanced salary packets to attract candidates to return to the office, hoping to encourage candidates to re-evaluate their own perspective on hybrid working vs take-home salary.

Concerns:

City Firms are well-enough healed to combat hybrid working by offering boosted salaries, however smaller regional firms simply don't have the resources to do this.

What Salt Mountain Recruitment finds is that regional firms have to either (1) remain robust and insist on office attendance or; (2) permit hybrid working.

The former depicts regional firms as outdated entities unwilling to adapt to or accommodate the modern working models.

Conclusion

Salt Mountain Recruitment supports candidates and employers in finding mutually beneficial opportunities.

Numerous businesses outside the legal sector provide remote working options, which might explain why there is such a strong focus on how law firms are responding to this demand. However, the legal field operates differently from other industries and typically requires a more traditional approach to work.

There are Firms who embrace hybrid working and we encourage candidates to seize those opportunities. That being said and much like Newton's Third Law, there has to be an equal and opposite reaction, which is usually in the form of a reduction in pay.

Salt Mountain Recruitment is currently working on a role which offers the best of both, on a consultancy model:

a fully hybrid working environment with a 70/30 split of the fees that a consultant is able to generate.

This model offers an excellent balance, enabling consultants to work with the flexibility they prefer, while being motivated to earn based on their own willingness to engage in work and the time demands associated thereto.

Browse this role here: https://www.saltmountainrecruit.com/jobs/consultant-solicitor