How Changes to UK Employment Rights Are Reshaping Firm Hiring

By Rebecca Collins, Associate Consultant at Rutherford Search The UK employment law market has become one of the busiest areas of private practice recruitment over the past few weeks, with many London firms actively looking to grow their teams. Employment law has become an increasingly strategic practice area as employers navigate changing worker protections, workplace investigations, flexible working reforms and growing reputational risk. Clients are seeking more proactive and commercially focused advice and law firms are responding by investing heavily in employment teams. As a result, employment law recruitment remains one of the busiest areas of the London private practice market.

Why Employment Law Hiring Is Increasing

Much of the current demand is being driven by proposed and ongoing reforms to UK employment rights. Changes surrounding unfair dismissal protections, workplace harassment obligations, flexible working rights and restrictions on “fire and rehire” practices are creating greater complexity for employers across all sectors.

This has led to increased demand for legal support on:

• Workforce restructurings

• Internal investigations

• Employment disputes and tribunal claims

• Executive exits

• HR advisory work

• Employment aspects of M&A transactions

Importantly, businesses are increasingly seeking strategic advice before issues escalate into disputes. As a result, firms are building teams capable of delivering both contentious and non-contentious support.

The Rise of the Hybrid Employment Lawyer

One of the clearest hiring trends currently emerging is demand for lawyers with a blend of contentious, advisory and corporate support experience.

Historically, many employment teams operated with a clearer divide between contentious and non-contentious work. However, firms are now increasingly looking for associates who can advise across both areas while also supporting corporate and private equity transactions.

This hybrid skillset has become particularly valuable at firms with strong corporate, financial services and private equity practices, where employment issues frequently arise alongside broader strategic business decisions.

The 3 to 6 PQE Market Remains the Sweet Spot

Across the London market, the most active hiring range continues to sit at approximately 3 to 6 PQE.

Associates at this level are viewed as technically strong enough to run matters independently while still offering long-term growth potential within expanding teams. Demand is particularly strong for lawyers who can combine solid technical grounding with commercial awareness and direct client exposure.

Many firms are also becoming increasingly selective. While hiring volumes have risen, firms are focusing on candidates who can add genuine versatility to leaner teams rather than purely specialist profiles.

This is especially evident within US firms and international practices, where employment teams are often expected to support broader cross-border corporate and disputes practices.

What Candidates Are Looking for

Candidate priorities within the employment market have also evolved. While compensation remains important, many associates are increasingly focused on:

• Quality and complexity of work

• Exposure to corporate support matters

• Partnership visibility

• Cross-border opportunities

• Hybrid working flexibility

• Long-term progression

There is also growing interest in broader practices rather than highly siloed roles. Associates recognise that experience across contentious, advisory and transactional support work can significantly strengthen long-term career prospects.

Outlook for the Employment Law Recruitment Market

The employment law hiring market is expected to remain active throughout 2026 as firms continue responding to legislative reform and increasing workplace regulation.

The growing overlap between employment, corporate, investigations and ESG-related work means firms are placing greater value on adaptable and commercially minded associates who can operate across multiple workstreams.

For candidates, this presents a strong opportunity to broaden experience and move into increasingly strategic practices. For firms, competition for strong mid-level employment talent is likely to remain high, particularly for associates capable of handling contentious, advisory and corporate support matters.

About the Author Rebecca Collins is an Associate Consultant at Rutherford, a London-based recruitment firm that specialises in compliance, in-house legal and private practice legal recruitmentsearchers for both financial services businesses and top-tier law firms.