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2022 ALPMA/Fluid Legal Recruitment NZ HR Issues & Salary Survey

Location

New Zealand

Report released on

7 March 2022

Status

Report No Longer Available

Pricing	Members	NZD 550 inc GST
Pricing	Non-Members	NZD 2,200

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The most comprehensive study of salaries and remuneration within New Zealand law firms

The 2022 New Zealand ALPMA/Fluid Legal Recruitment HR Issues & Salary Survey was conducted late 2021 to early 2022, for release in March 2022.

This year, 117 law firms (representing 3,574 staff) participated in our New Zealand survey, making it the most comprehensive, independent HR and remuneration study across all roles (including actual salaries paid) within the New Zealand legal industry.

This 70+ page report includes detailed information on:

Employment Profiles at NZ Law Firms
Bonuses, Benefits & Incentives
Diversity & Inclusion
HR Issues & Challenges

Employment & Salary Projections
Salary Data
Summary of Salary Movements
Staffing profiles & roles (60+ positions)

2022 Key Findings

Wage growth in the legal industry higher than national average	2021 Legal Industry Salaries: Up 3.9% Highest increases for secretarial support (4.9%) and legal executives (4.6%).Beating 2021 average national wage growth of 2.6%.
Firms reported record employment growth, and remain optimistic for 2022	57% of participating firms increased headcount in 2021 62% expect to increase staff over the next 12 months
Fee earners in demand, with increasing reliance on legal executives evident	81% of participating firms expect to recruit for lawyers and solicitors in 2022 Ratio of lawyers to legal executives fell to a five year low of 2.82 – down from 4.03 in 2018
With wage growth lagging inflation, firms expect higher wages in 2022	67% of participating firms expect to negotiate individual pay increases with staff above Consumer price index (CPI)
Bonuses retained for lawyers, but paid selectively to other roles	Nearly nine in ten NZ firms pay their lawyers a bonus Firms offering bonuses to legal executives decreased to 55%
COVID dominates HR issues, but talent retention and acquisition move up the list of challenges in tight labour market	Managing risk and policy reviews, including COVID-19, is an important HR challenge for 95% of participating firms The challenge of employee retention & talent management returns to second place (94%) for NZ firms in 2022

2022 Salary Survey Discussion Available On-Demand

The discussion of the findings of the survey and an insightful overview of the current recruitment market from our sponsors Fluid Recruitment is available via ALPMA's On-Demand Learning Centre.

On-Demand Report Discussion

Download 2022 Sample NZ Report

Need more information?

If you have any questions about the research or need assistance, please contact our research team.