Legal & Data Protection Jobs Market April 2023
Through the latter half of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, the legal industry in Malta has seen a broad range of opportunities for lawyers interested in working both in-house and in a more traditional firm environment. In such a fiercely competitive industry, we have seen a slight increase in salaries compared to 2022.
There has been an increase in demand for attorneys in Malta over the past six months at all seniority levels. Firms and internal businesses are continuing a trend of employing recent graduates and attorneys with 1-2 years of post-qualification experience (PQE). Although there have been slight increases in some sectors, salaries have largely remained at the same level as before.
The regulated sectors continue to be the source of the majority of activity in the legal market, with iGaming and Fintech continuing to offer the highest salaries and occupy the majority of employment opportunities. Additionally, we have observed that sectors like insurance and other financial services are trailing closely. Companies continue to strengthen and maintain their legal functions in order to carry on with the trends from six months ago, despite Malta being removed from the Financial Action Task Forces (FATF) Greylist.
Compared to other seniority levels, six months ago, junior workers dominated. However, we are now also noticing an increase in mid to senior-level hires. This no longer just applies to private businesses, but also to firm settings where we have noticed a rise in senior associates providing opportunities for more experienced lawyers seeking to move into a law firm setting.
The majority of the previous trends have persisted, but one noticeable trend, in particular, is that more businesses are adopting a hybrid or even entirely remote methods. These days, salaries are not the only factor that matters to candidates, in order to attract the best talent, most candidates are also looking for a healthy work-life balance. More businesses are continuing to give a hybrid and flexible approach in order to attract top talent, especially after Covid-19.
Data Protection Officers and experts in this area are in greater demand. Although, small due to the lack of opportunities, the talent pool for these professionals is growing. Despite the limited opportunities, businesses are increasingly looking to hire internal DPOs as opposed to only outsourcing this role. Despite the fact that the majority of businesses continue to outsource this job, there are now a few more opportunities available in the market.
However, due to the abundance of professionals with GDPR and privacy expertise, this field is extremely competitive. What frequently ends up being the differentiating factor, is having experience within the sector a company is operating in, such as iGaming, Fintech, and Insurance.
For more information on the current Legal & Data Protection jobs market and the latest salary bands, please download our Salary Survey below.