Within the legal industry and beyond, many companies are reining in the flexible work policies they implemented during the pandemic. This sees a divergence from what many attorneys prefer – particularly female and minority attorneys. More than 90% of female attorneys who responded to Bloomberg Law’s latest Workload and Hours Survey said they want to be able to work remotely at least part of the week, compared with just three quarters of male respondents.
Additionally, significantly more women and minority attorneys told Bloomberg Law that, in 2024, they’re either open to job offers or are actively looking for a new position. This data was analyzed by Bloomberg Law’s Jessica R. Blaemire, who discusses what this means and what effect this could have on the legal industry in the latest episode of Bloomberg’s podcast, On The Merits.
According to Blaemire, more restrictive remote work policies, coupled with fallout from recent Supreme Court rulings, could lead to a significant setback on diversity goals at many law firms. The full details of this discussion can be found on the podcast, available on various platforms including Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
These results highlight the distinct gap between employer policy shift towards in-office working and the workforce’s preference for flexibility in remote work. The legal industry may need to revisit its stances to maintain diversity within their organizations, as employees consider their commitment to their current firms. Given these emerging preferences and the potential implications for diversity efforts in law firms, the legal industry may be seeing a substantial recalibration in terms of work policy and workforce diversity in the coming years. For the full details on this report, be sure to check out the entire article on Bloomberg Law.