An all-time low staff attrition rate is contributing to the ongoing legal skills shortages in the UK, according to legal recruitment firm Clayton Legal.

A study of more than 2000 firms by the legal recruitment consultancy found that the majority reported a decrease in staff attrition rates over the past 12 months. Moreover, 13% of firms reported that they were losing more staff when compared to this time last year. The drop in activity has been cited as one of the contributing factors to the ongoing skills shortages.

“This was one of the more surprising outcomes from our latest legal salary survey and highlights both the reluctance of firms to move staff on and that of the professionals themselves to change employer,” Managing Director of Clayton Legal, Lynn Sedgwick, said. “A number of factors are behind this, including the uncertainty over the referendum result and what this will mean for organisations. However, the lack of movement in the market is certainly contributing to the skills shortages, as practices have struggled to source the candidates they need.”

“Even in areas like the home counties, where professionals have traditionally been lured in by major London based firms, we’re seeing reports of rock bottom staff attrition rates, which is certainly an unusual trend. We’d encourage firms to partner with a specialist if they’re struggling to source the talent they require to continue growing, otherwise they put their future profitability at risk. We all know that people are what makes firms tick and without the right people, growth prospects are essentially non-existent,” Sedgwick said.