A Bakers staffer bids farewell to the office
Baker McKenzie has made a number of positions in its business services team redundant, including some senior roles.
The restructuring had been "handled poorly" an insider told RollOnFriday. Senior heads in the firm's business services team are "leaving in very short time frames with little notice to wider teams”. The source added that the redundancies were "very unsettling" and “promises of transparency are not being fulfilled.”
“In seeking to consolidate and create better alignment across our professional business services teams, we have reviewed the structure of a small number of functions. In a very limited number of cases, this has resulted in some roles in London being made redundant," a spokesman for the firm told RollOnFriday.
"We are working closely with those affected to ensure that they are well supported," said the spokesman. "Throughout this process we have been communicating as openly and transparently as possible whilst being mindful of supporting the small number of individuals concerned."
The firm would not comment on the exact number of staff affected.
In January, Norton Rose Fulbright set about making 132 redundancies, 111 of which were non-fee-earners. RollOnFriday revealed in October that Fieldfisher was cutting secretaries, and in November that CMS and Clyde & Co were making cuts, along with Gately and Squire Patton Boggs. In March, Linklaters offered all 225 of its secretaries voluntary redundancy. While in April CC axed dozens of support staff.
If your staff is wielding the axe, get in touch.
Comments
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Bakers managing exits poorly?! Who’d have thought!!
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How many Heads of Marketing does it take to change a light bulb in an international law firm?
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Well I reckon that Bakers will be sobbing into its overpriced European lager sooner rather than later. Just you wait to see what these irreplaceable talents who were worth every single penny they got paid to photocopy glossy literature about diversity and inclusivity policies will do next.
The whole City will be chewing each others' arms off to hire them, such is the value they bring to wherever they roam.
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What about roles outside of London?
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@09:39 - I don't know, is this a trick question?
What gender does the lightbulb self-identify as, because it might be a job for one or more Heads of D&I instead?
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Bakers have previous on exiting the wrong people. Let's hope this one doesn't end up at the SDT!
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@10:11 Arguably, there is a case for more D&I people at Bakers given past form
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@10.11 - The answer is obviously four. One to assess the lightbulb from a London perspective, one for EMEA review and approval to change the lightbulb, a further marketing manager to consider sector implications and report to Global Head of Marketing Reporting and Paperclip Management and then one marketing manager to write an email at 5pm on a bank holiday to tell an associate to change the lightbulb by no later than 4.15pm or else it will be reported to the Managing Partner.
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There’s not a lot of evidence they’ve been awash with diversity expertise...
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Woman sexually harassed by senior partner. Woman forced to exit. Senior partner promoted. Not exactly D&I 101.
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"Woman sexually harassed by senior partner. Woman forced to exit. Senior partner promoted. Not exactly D&I 101."
Are you lost?
Which story do you think you're commenting on?
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Confused why D&I has been brought into this story. Even more confused as to why the exit of a couple of people, in a post-pandemic environment, is news. Must have been a slow day in the newsroom...
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Sounds exactly like how BLM handled their redundancies! Very poorly, no transparency and senior management cobbling together a strategy overnight to cover up the fact that the equity partner heading up the department had put little thought into restructuring. I’m sure she lost no sleep and still doesn’t as numerous people who survived her culling are now resigning for greener pastures!
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whispers my US firm were planning the same but its been quiet so far..,
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From what I understand being made redundant is just as upsetting and as much of an ordeal for business services professionals as for lawyers? A bit of kindness never hurts! We all know that redundancies follow most crises but it takes a variety of skills to keep a law firm running, I hope the cuts have been thought through.