Balance your passion and your paycheck during these unprecedented times. Like other workers, lawyers have more control and say after years of remote work during the pandemic. The flexibility that many work from home arrangements has provided has led many lawyers to rethink what is most important in their lives and how – and when – they want to be “on the clock” for their employers. At the same time, salaries and demand for lawyers are at highs even as the economy struggles with high inflation and an uncertain economic future. Some economists predict that 2023 and 2024 will be far different, so now may by the time that lawyers can lock in their preferences before the pendulum swings back to a market favoring employers.
“We are at a unique moment in the history of the postindustrial labor force. Workers have more control over their working conditions — the pay, place, and pace of their jobs — than they have since the heyday of worker collective action and unionization over half a century ago. As a result of the financial and existential uncertainty wrought by the pandemic, many workers, especially professionals, are reconsidering what they want from their jobs and daring to ask for something more. And the time to act is now. There is no telling how long this moment will last and harbingers of a possible reversion to employer-dominated old ways are out there: Companies are demanding that all workers return to the office; business owners are grumbling that the empowerment of workers has gone too far. This brings an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on what we want from our jobs. What do we want our relationship to our paid work to be?”
Read: Striking a Balance Between Your Passion and Your Paycheck at Harvard Business Review