166 redundancies at Eversheds
25 January 2013
Eversheds confirmed yesterday that 166 jobs were at risk throughout its worldwide network.

Numbers are pretty evenly split between business service roles and legal jobs, and include an unspecified number of partners. They also include the firm's entire Copenhagen office, which is to be shut down. That accounts for 30 jobs, although there's a hope that they may be transferred to another firm.

The unfortunate victims of this latest round of redundancies will be offered an enhanced financial package. Lee Ranson, the firm's Managing Partner, told RollOnFriday that the job losses were very sad news but reflected the state of the market. But while it's true that redundancies are far from rare at the moment, few firms have underestimated the "state of the market" so badly as to need six (count 'em) redundancy rounds since the start of the credit crunch.
 
Ranson added that a great deal of work had gone into the process to try to ensure that no further rounds will be necessary. Here's hoping.

Unless you're at Eversheds

Bryan Hughes, Eversheds' Chief Exec, said that "some markets in which we operate have undergone fundamental change rendering our current structure unsustainable". In the UK, that means the real estate and company/commercial departments.

He added that as many staff as possible would be redeployed. However, based on law firms' past performances in this respect, Eversheds' staff shouldn't be holding their breath waiting for last minute salvation.