Inflation! Should You Be Expecting a Raise This Year? Spoiler Alert: No (Unless You are Very Special)

On May 7, 2023

WSJ reports a disconnect on worker versus employer expectations on raises this year. A majority of workers expect a bump because of inflation and rising cost of living, while employers struggle to contain costs. What do I foresee for lawyers? They have already received big raises and bonuses (including off-cycle ones) 2021 and 2022 as “employers […]

Change, Departure, Market

How Companies Decide Who Gets Cut

On April 30, 2023

In this time of layoffs, how do companies decide who has to go? WSJ reports that in the past companies often laid off the junior employees first. Now, however, these five factors guide who is laid off: Deprioritized skills Deprioritized business Pay (too high) Job performance (poor) Percentage of the company cuts (across the board) […]

Job Search, Market

Where Are the Jobs?

On April 16, 2023

In this down market, you may be wondering who is hiring. I’m busy scouting out this information for you, and this is what I’ve seen/heard: New technologies always need lawyers. An unsettled area like AI definitely falls in this category. See NYT article about the AI boom on how “lawmakers struggle to understand the technology.” […]

Market

What’s the Latest on the Job Market?

On March 30, 2023

I recently spoke about current legal hiring on a panel with Julieta Stubrin hosted by Silicon Legal Strategy. Some highlights: Although hiring has slowed down significantly since the pandemic boom, it has not zeroed out. Julieta and I agreed hiring is still better than the financial crisis (’07-’08) and the dotbomb (’00). The jury is out […]

Interview, Job Search, Market, Recruiter

Job Searching in a Downturn

On January 29, 2023

How do you conduct a job search in Silicon Valley in a downturn? The analysis of this tech expert‘s job hunt post-Meta is on-point. He spent three months from beginning to end, with the goal of landing somewhere he’d “be happy learning and growing for at least 4-5 years” in an industry interesting to him. He tracked […]

Market

The State of In-House Hiring: A View from the Trenches

On October 16, 2022

The US economy is full of question marks (e.g., Wall Street Braces for an Earnings Season of Mixed Signals per NYT), and the IMF warns of a global slowdown, citing inflation and rising interest rates, war in Ukraine, slowdown in China, COVID, etc. How do these conditions affect legal hiring in-house? This is what I’m […]

Career Management, Career Tips, Change, Departure, Market, Timing

5 Non-Obvious Signs of Impending Layoff

On September 25, 2022

As the risk of recession increases, here’s a good article on how to tell if your company is about to do layoffs (beyond if you see a steep drop in revenue or a threat emerge to the business model). I survived multiple rounds of layoffs when I was in-house, and these ring true to me: […]

Job Search, Market

Job Market Cooling? 5 Indicators Watched by Economists

On June 18, 2022

You may be guessing the job market is slowing down. The WSJ confirms this: “Nearly every labor indicator suggests the hottest market in half a century is starting to cool.” Here are the five indicators economists are watching: Labor demand. Right now it’s strong but moderating. The peak was March at 11.9 million job openings and […]

Career Management, Market

Is a Correction Coming? What Would it Mean for Your Career?

On April 24, 2022

Yes, these are crazy times: pandemic, war, supply chain snarls, China lockdown, inflation at a four-decade high, and increased odds of a recession. WSJ thinks an “abrupt end” to growth is on the table. What does this mean for in-house careers? If you are looking to change jobs, consider the effect of the economy on […]

Market

Why is the Legal Market So Hot Now?

On July 25, 2021

This New York Times article explains how Silicon Valley has profited from the pandemic: “As the world reeled, tech titans supplied the tools that made life and work possible.” In contrast, the businesses the pandemic hurt – restaurants, airlines, conferences, department stores, film, entertainment complexes – are not the mainstay of Silicon Valley. Here, the tech companies […]

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