Will salary rises minimize the desire for going in-house?
I had an interesting conversation with a candidate who works at one of the firms that raised salaries. This candidate was seriously contemplating an in-house opportunity which, despite a small decrease in salary, seemed to have everything she wanted. Until salaries raised. The recent raise in salaries completely changed her perspective, and what seemed like a small decrease in salary was now much more significant. In turn, she feels that she can no longer "leave so much money on the table." She has decided against going in-house for the next few years because the pay disparity is too significant, even if this means working more hours.
This was the first time I saw, first-hand, how the recent increase in salaries is keeping people at firms. I imagine we are going to be seeing much more of this. Any thoughts?
This was the first time I saw, first-hand, how the recent increase in salaries is keeping people at firms. I imagine we are going to be seeing much more of this. Any thoughts?
posted by Dan Binstock (Washington, D.C. office) at 10:29 AM
2 Comments:
Some of the raises aren't happening in smaller markets, or not to the extent of the raises I've seen recently in NY, Boston, DC and other big markets.
I'm a legal recruiter... I have a few associates who were strongly considering an in-house move, but are now waffling because of their raises. Most still going through with the interview(s), but their desire has been absolutely weakened.
I think there will always be attorneys wanting to go in-house not matter the pay disparity, just now their will be less of them making it harder to work certain in-house assignments.
I'll be interested to see how this does effect some of the smaller markets which also have sizable in-house opportunites, such as Kansas City, Charlotte, Clevelend, etc...
The truth is that in the short run, salary increases have the desired effect (i.e. they increase associate retention.) I've already had a number of candidates lose interest in smaller firms once they received their pay raise. The rationale was the same ("how can I leave so much money on the table".)
During the last big salary increases, the same thing happened.
But increasing salaries will not by itself stem the tide of associate attrition and over time, associates will get back to the reasons they wanted to move in the first place (which are frequently not financial.)
I understand how psychologically, it can be difficult to accept an even larger pay cut; but I still argue that for most attorneys who are thinking about a lateral move, it is pretty short sited to follow the money.
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