More Time in the Office Might Mean Less Diversity

On The Merits

Within the legal industry and beyond, many companies are reining in the flexible work policies they implemented during the pandemic. Though this may be beneficial for these companies, Bloomberg Law survey data shows that it's not what many attorneys want—especially female and minority attorneys.

More than 90% of female attorneys who responded to Bloomberg Law's latest Workload and Hours Survey said they want to be able to work remotely at least part of the week, compared with just three quarters of male respondents. Additionally, significantly more women and minority attorneys told Bloomberg Law that, in 2024, they're either open to job offers or are actively looking for a new position.

Bloomberg Law analyst Jessica R. Blaemire, who crunched the data from this survey, joins the latest episode of our podcast, On The Merits, to discuss what this means and what effect this could have on the legal industry. She says more restrictive remote work policies, coupled with fallout from the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, could lead to serious backsliding on diversity goals at many law firms.

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