Stealth Layoff Check-in Forum

[2013]

It sucks too, because a good secretary is a godsend.

It's not like firms are axing all of their secretaries. They are just making the ratio make more sense. There is no need to have a 1:1 or 1:2 lawyer:secretary ratio anymore like there used to be 40 years ago. If the average legal secretary in a major market costs $100k (salary + benefits + other associated employment costs, like required square footage and the time it takes to do reviews), then cutting 50 secretaries is saving $5M/yr. That's a good chunk of change, and, quite frankly, there might almost no business disruption. Several of the secretaries I work with spend more time playing games on their computers or browsing Facebook than actually doing anything. They aren't lazy; they just genuinely don't get used nearly as much.

Lol 1:1 or 1:2.

It’s going to be like 1:10 soon.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

It sucks too, because a good secretary is a godsend.

It's not like firms are axing all of their secretaries. They are just making the ratio make more sense. There is no need to have a 1:1 or 1:2 lawyer:secretary ratio anymore like there used to be 40 years ago. If the average legal secretary in a major market costs $100k (salary + benefits + other associated employment costs, like required square footage and the time it takes to do reviews), then cutting 50 secretaries is saving $5M/yr. That's a good chunk of change, and, quite frankly, there might almost no business disruption. Several of the secretaries I work with spend more time playing games on their computers or browsing Facebook than actually doing anything. They aren't lazy; they just genuinely don't get used nearly as much.

Lol 1:1 or 1:2.

It’s going to be like 1:10 soon.

It’s a poooooool

Ugh

[whats an updog]

The changes described above are already in full effect at my office. As a second year, I currently have a pool (~1:15). It's like flipping a coin every time whether I get what I need without further intervention or just giving up and doing it myself. I can use a partner's secretary for some stuff, and there is a huge difference in reliability. With the pool, it seems like a negative feedback loop where people use them less and less because they are bad and eventually they'll just do away with the pool too. A good balance would be 1:3 or 1:4.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

With the pool, it seems like a negative feedback loop where people use them less and less because they are bad and eventually they'll just do away with the pool too. A good balance would be 1:3 or 1:4.

This is not what "negative feedback loop" means.