Priorities are changing, and the definition of a successful career reads differently than it did a few years ago. Lawyers still want to be paid fairly for the work they do, but financial return is no longer the only measure of career progression. The modern legal professional is looking to redefine work life balance to make sure that they can be a person first and a lawyer a close second.
Several studies have indicated that a person’s perceived happiness stagnates above a certain annual income. They contend that as soon as basic needs are met comfortably, the focus actually tends to shift from wealth to purpose.
One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that money makes people happier if their happiness (or lack thereof) is directly related to their financial situation. However, if we agree that most people are actually searching for purpose in their lives, then a salary increase is unlikely to fulfil them. For some lawyers, the extra hours and management responsibilities that come with becoming a partner are not worth the increased salary if it means that less time can be spent with family or on passion projects.
Compared to previous generations, Generation Z (Gen Z) seem to have internalized this correlation between happiness and disposable income on their own. A New Work study found that only 17% of Gen Z professionals would prefer receiving a higher salary to having more of their own free time.
However, this same study also found that 67% of all participants considered the start and end of a work day to be obsolete in the traditional sense. Increasing use of digital communication has seen lawyers become accustomed to the idea of constant availability. Emails from clients or messages from co-workers outside of working hours are far more common than they once were.
As life and work become more flexible, boundaries between the two inevitably blur and this puts a strong focus on purpose. A late e-mail or a full working week is much easier to tolerate if we look at activities that interest and challenge us. However, if a job becomes too much of a burden, then it risks taking up personal time and causing disinterest and resentment. It’s important for partners, managers, and clients alike to factor into their expectations that their lawyers are people who have outside interests as well as their job.
Where the balance between work and life is not met, this creates tension. Quiet Quitting and the Great Resignation are varying degrees of reaction to this, but both are direct responses to working models that do not serve the workforce. In reality, the balance between financial security, job satisfaction and free time management is much more difficult to find (in reality) than motivating “take-your-life-in-your-own-hands” articles suggest.
Alternative working models offer a different option for lawyers with more autonomy over working days, hours and areas of law than traditional private practice. Our flexible services team can help to simplify the process of moving to these such models by helping lawyers find projects that fulfil and excite them at a time and location that suits them. This holistic, people-centric approach to legal work is a recognition that the modern lawyer has different career and professional goals than was once the case. This flexible approach can help talented legal professionals meet their work-life balance requirements and prevent them from leaving law behind.
For further information, please contact:
Henry Hilton, Pinsent Masons
henry.hilton@pinsentmasons.com
