Job Survey, Layoffs

Associate Life Survey: Chop! Chop! The Economy's Slow.

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We received 1,037 responses to last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on layoffs, which is up a bit from 800 this summer.

As we feared, the number of reported layoffs is also up a bit from this summer:

  * Roughly 11% of associates reported public layoffs at their firms, up from about 4% this summer.

  * 21% accused their firm of “stealth layoffs,” up from 18%.

  * 7.5% said that their firm was firing support staff, but not associates, up from 4.5%. (22% of these respondents said that staff attorneys were affected, 45% said paralegals were being cut, and 85% said that other support staff were getting the axe.)

  * In contrast to this summer, when over half of associates felt like things were “just fine”, that number has fallen to only 35%.

  * 16% of respondents say that even though layoffs haven’t yet hit their firms, they fear that they are on the way.

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Survey Responses: Is your firm conducting layoffs?

Yes, and they’re being public about it. 10.61%
Yes, but they’re “stealth layoffs”. 21.02%
People have been asked to leave, but it’s performance-related. 1.42%
The firm is laying off support staff, paralegals or staff attorneys, but not associates.   7.52%
No, but the firm has frozen salaries. 1.74%
No, but I’m afraid they’re coming. 15.91%
No, everything’s fine. 34.81%
I don’t know. 6.08%

See who’s getting hit where, after the jump.


Chicago leads the pack in public layoffs, with 24% of respondents in the city reporting that their firms are openly terminating associates. LA, Boston, and New York are well behind — but still not exactly healthy — at 16%, 15%, and 14% respectively.

On the quiet front, stealth layoff reports are all over the map, with more than 20% of respondents in Boston, Charlotte, LA, New York and Philadelphia accusing their firms of sneaky terminations. But Atlanta is in much worse shape, with 38% of respondents whispering of stealth layoffs. Houston is next, at 34%, followed by San Francisco and Silicon Valley at 30%.

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At the firms with public layoffs, 59% of respondents said that corporate associates were affected, and 55% said that structured finance attorneys were hit. Another 49% noted that real estate careers had been foreclosed. Respondents at “stealth layoff” firms reported similar numbers.

That said, litigators weren’t doing too well at these firms either. 41% of respondents at firms with public layoffs said that litigation associates were caught in the carnage. At “stealth layoff” firms, that number jumped to 49%.

So what’s safe?

At firms conducting stealth layoffs, less than 5% of respondents thought that bankruptcy, trademark, energy, trusts & estates, or employee benefits associates were affected, and tax and patent associates weren’t too far behind at 6% and 9% respectively.

Even at firms conducting public layoffs, less than 10% of respondents thought that trademark, energy, T&E, or employee benefits associates were on the hook. Bankruptcy, tax, and patent associates, however, were cited by 12% to 14% of respondents as being on the chopping block.

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Justin Bernold is a Director at Lateral Link, the sponsor of this Associate Life Survey.

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