One of Britain's premier legal institutions, Clifford Chance, is slashing its London-based business professional staff by 10% as artificial intelligence fundamentally transforms traditional office work.
The Restructuring Details
According to an exclusive Financial Times report, the magic circle law firm is making approximately 50 roles redundant across key support functions including finance, human resources, and information technology. Additionally, up to 35 other positions will undergo significant changes in their scope and responsibilities.
A Clifford Chance spokesperson confirmed the proposals, stating: "In line with our strategy to strengthen our operations, we can confirm we are proposing changes to some of our London-based business professional functions. The proposed changes could see the creation of new roles, changes to the scope of roles, revised team structures and in some cases a reduction in roles."
AI Driving Workforce Transformation
The firm identified increased use of artificial intelligence as a key factor behind the restructuring. This technological shift, combined with reduced demand for certain business services, has prompted the firm to transfer more work to offices outside its main UK-US operations in countries such as Poland and India.
This development highlights growing concerns about AI's impact on white-collar professions. Artificial intelligence systems capable of performing cognitive tasks traditionally handled by humans are increasingly affecting roles involving research, contract review, scheduling, and coding.
Broader Industry Implications
The trend extends beyond the legal sector. Mohamed Kande, global chairman of professional services giant PwC, revealed that the firm has abandoned its ambitious plan to hire 100,000 people over five years, a target set in 2021.
"When we made the plans to hire that many people, the world looked very, very different," Kande told the BBC. "Now we have artificial intelligence. We want to hire, but I don't know if it's going to be the same level of people that we hire - it will be a different set of people."
Despite reducing overall hiring plans, PwC faces challenges in recruiting AI specialists. "We are looking for hundreds and hundreds of engineers today to help us drive our AI agenda, but we just cannot find them," Kande admitted.
Recent research underscores this industry-wide shift. A British Standards Institution survey of 850 business leaders across seven countries, including the UK, found that 41% of executives acknowledged using AI to reduce their workforce numbers.
As companies increasingly bank productivity gains from AI implementation, the landscape for graduate recruitment and entry-level positions continues to evolve, marking a significant transformation in how professional services firms structure their operations and manage their human resources.
