Hiring demand for lawyers to rebound in 2021: report

Hiring capacity dampened in the beginning of 2020, due to the pandemic.

Singapore’s legal industry continues to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as new jobs in-house and within the private practice were created, according to the latest report by executive recruitment firm Ethos BeathChapman (EBC).

According to EBC, hiring capacity for in-house lawyers dampened in the beginning of 2020. Last year, most law firms in Singapore implemented pay freezes to cope with the pandemic’s financial impact, whilst some put in place temporary salary reductions to tide through the trying times.

However, these measures enabled most firms to retain full headcount and streamline their operational processes to increase efficiency while lowering cost.

Hiring went on to resume in Q4 of 2020. EBC foresees the upward trajectory to continue, as hires have been made across logistics and shipping, e-commerce and digital payments, private equity, renewables, asset management, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and technology companies in Singapore.

“With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines restoring market confidence, the legal recruitment outlook in Singapore is positive. Singapore’s legal industry has not been immune to the effects of COVID-19 but has shown weatherproof buoyancy in its ability to adapt, pivot and digitalise,” said Linus Choo, who leads EBC’s legal recruitment practice in Asia.

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