Dive Brief:

• Ninety-four percent of deputy general counsel say their current employer does not provide them with the opportunity to develop the skills they need to be elevated to the GC role, according to a new survey report from the legal talent platform Axiom.
• As a result, nearly three in four respondents (73%) said they will have to change employers to advance their careers, the survey of 200 deputy GCs found.
• Additionally, 100% of the DGCs surveyed reported feeling stressed or burned out in their current role. This was a much higher percentage than the roughly 80% of GCs who reported feeling that way in a previous Axiom survey that was also conducted by Wakefield Research.

Dive Insight:

The Axiom report highlights that there is a gap between the skills deputy GCs feel they need to build to become GCs and the professional development opportunities in their current roles.

Along those lines, roughly half of deputy GCs believe they will need exposure to the C-suite to be elevated to the GC position, but 71% of those who cite this need say their current position doesn’t provide such an opportunity.

Meanwhile, 42% say their current position doesn’t provide substantive management experience, such as leadership or cross-functional management of non-lawyers.

One-third of deputy GCs say they are not gaining corporate governance experience, and 31% say they are not provided some degree of budget autonomy.

These statistics indicate that “GCs should be looking for ways to better provide their DGCs with the professional development opportunities they’re hungry for so they don’t feel as though they need to seek them elsewhere,” said Susan Jacobson, an Axiom vice president and senior client advisor.

When asked where they would consider going for a new position, 54% of deputy GCs said another DGC position.

Meanwhile, 51% said they would consider working at a virtual law firm, flexible talent provider or alternative legal services provider.

Overall, nearly a quarter (22%) of DGCs are actively searching for a new position and nearly two-thirds (65%) say they’re likely to look within the next year.

The report attributes this anticipated turnover in part to the stress and burnout DGCs are experiencing, including 51% who report they feel very or extremely stressed or burned out. Shrinking budgets and rising workloads are also factors in the dissatisfaction DGCs are experiencing.

The Axiom survey was conducted by Wakefield Research in November and December 2022 among 200 DGCs at companies with $5B+ in annual revenue across a wide range of industries.