Is Manchester Short on Legal Talent or Are Firms Recruiting Wrong?

Inside Manchester’s legal recruitment market: where talent’s not the issue, strategy is.

Manchester’s skyline isn’t the only thing changing. The boom in legal jobs in Manchester mirrors the city’s wider growth, with the legal sector expanding by more than 20% in the past decade, fuelled by tech, finance and professional services. More firms are setting up shop, more lawyers are weighing their next move, and there are more in-house legal jobs in Manchester than ever before. The city’s economy has grown faster than anywhere outside London, with major law firms expanding their Manchester offices to tap into that growth.

Yet the conversation hasn’t caught up. Ask around and you’ll still hear it: “There’s a shortage of lawyers.”

There isn’t. Just a shortage of hiring done right.

It’s easy to believe the “shortage” story. Hiring feels tougher, salaries are rising, and candidates are choosier than ever. But that doesn’t mean the lawyers aren’t there. It means the rules have changed – quietly but completely. And that shift is what’s catching firms off guard.

So what should firms do now to secure top legal talent as Manchester’s market hits that awkward stage of growth?

The Reality Behind Manchester’s ‘Talent Shortage’

Manchester’s legal market isn’t short on movement. If anything, it’s busier than ever. Firms like DWF, Addleshaw Goddard and Eversheds Sutherland keep expanding their Manchester teams, while Holden Smith and Napthens have opened new offices around the city this year. But growth hasn’t made hiring easier. It’s just made the gaps more visible.

Lawyers aren’t looking for the same things they were five years ago:

● Flexible working isn’t a perk anymore; it’s a filter.

● Career progression needs to be mapped out, not implied.

● Culture can’t just be a word in a job spec. Candidates want proof of it, and they look elsewhere if they don’t see it.

Lawyers don’t turn down jobs because of pay. They turn them down because the opportunity feels thin, or the leadership doesn’t give them confidence. You can’t fix that with a free gym membership. So, while Manchester’s growth is good for business, it’s also made firms realise that the issue isn’t quantity – it’s connection.

Where Firms Go Wrong

Even when firms understand what candidates want, the way they hire often lets them down.

For a Manchester legal recruitment agency, the pattern’s familiar. Firms come in convinced they’ve exhausted the talent pool, but what they’ve really exhausted is candidate patience. Long interview processes, vague job specs, and hybrid policies that shift by the week all signal the same thing – a lack of direction.

The best lawyers don’t wait around for indecision. They take the offer that moves fastest and makes sense.

Then there’s the job spec language problem. Too many ads still open with recycled lines like “commercial mindset” or “fast-paced environment.” They say everything and nothing. Manchester’s lawyers are sharp enough to spot copy-and-paste culture a mile off. They want substance – clarity on the work, the people, and what growth actually looks like. They also want to see a bit of personality. Something that tells them who they’d actually be working with.

And when firms finally reach the interview stage, they often move too slowly or overcomplicate it. Lawyers aren’t rejecting jobs because they’re fickle – they’re rejecting a process that feels cold or endless. By the time the decision’s made, the right candidate has already accepted somewhere else.

So yes, competition’s fierce here. But most hiring problems aren’t caused by a lawyer shortage. They’re caused by old recruiting habits.

How Firms Can Hire Smarter

The good news? Fixing Manchester’s legal hiring problem doesn’t take miracles – just intent. When a lawyer’s scrolling through law jobs in Manchester, your job listing shouldn’t feel like everyone else’s. The firms who are winning the best legal talent aren’t the ones shouting the loudest – they’re the ones listening better.

Here’s what helps:

1. Be clear and human: A job ad is often a lawyer’s first impression of your firm. Make it sound like it came from a person, not a policy. Tell them who they’ll work with, what the team’s like, and why the role exists.

2. Speed up: The best candidates won’t wait through four interview rounds and a fortnight of silence. Quick decisions show confidence – and respect.

3. Define flexibility: “Hybrid” means different things to different firms. Spell out what it actually looks like for you, and you’ll save everyone time.

4. Show the path: Mid-level lawyers, especially, want to know what comes next. Progression doesn’t have to be fast – just visible.

Hiring smarter isn’t about rewriting the rulebook. It’s about a little less autopilot and a little more finesse. The best firms in Manchester legal recruitment are already showing how it’s done – acting faster, communicating clearly, and hiring with conviction.

Talk to the People Who Know the Market 

If your firm’s ready to fine-tune its hiring strategy, talk to Joe Bryant or Amanda Bower at JMC Legal Recruitment. They know the Manchester legal recruitment scene inside out – and how to find the lawyers who’ll fit it.

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