The month of June was a record-setting month for TRU in several categories. These milestones expose a narrative for the current e-discovery job market that everyone—employees and employers—needs to understand.
First, June had the highest number of offers accepted ever in one month in TRU’s 11-year history. Second, sadly, it was the highest-ranking month for offers declined in our company’s history. Third, it was the highest number of contract staffing billing hours ever in one month. Fourth, the average timeline from resume submission to offer accepted for contractors has accelerated from three to six days to an average of forty-eight hours. Finally, our referral-to-hire ratio (how many resumes TRU sends before a client extends an offer per position) was a proud 4:1 going into 2021, which held steady until the beginning of June when that ratio jumped to 2:1.
What does all this mean? It means that there are more jobs available than there are candidates looking for work in e-discovery. It means nearly every person TRU chose to represent in June got a job (and likely declined several other offers). It means the time it takes to get a job is days, not weeks, and that means hiring managers who do not act on resumes instantly are likely to wonder why they cannot get an interview scheduled, much less make a hire. It means companies and law firms cannot hire full-time talent fast enough or in enough volume to handle the current workload, so contract talent is not only being hired faster and more frequently but also being pushed into overtime utilization consistently.
From TRU’s perspective, there is no end in sight to these trends. Overtime hours will peak in July for 2021 while peers and tenured staff take vacation leave. July 2021 will be the busiest July in the history of e-discovery staffing, with more hiring, re-hiring, counteroffering, and counter-counteroffering than previously witnessed. Thinking about kicking the can on interviews while you go away on vacation? Think twice. By the time you return, it is likely that candidate will be off the market, along with everyone else being considered a week ago.
