Tax Opportunities: Q3 2026
Tax recruitment remained relatively stable in terms of overall vacancy numbers during Q3, but the flow of new opportunities increased significantly.
21 Tax vacancies were active during the quarter, compared with 19 in Q2. However, there were nine new roles advertised, compared with only four during the previous quarter.
The breadth of recruitment was consistent, each new roles was with a different firm and 18 firms advertised tax opportunities during the quarter. This compared to 16 in Q2 and 19 in Q1.
Below we look at the firms that were advertising roles during the quarter, the vacancies they advertised and how those opportunities evolved between July and September.
Executive Summary
19 Tax vacancies were active during Q3, compared with 18 in Q2.
9 new roles were advertised, up from 4 during Q2.
18 firms recruited, slightly up from 16 in Q2.
8 firms opened a new vacancy.
13 roles remained open entering Q4.
6 of those 12 had been advertised for six months or more.
*This review is based on recruitment activity across the 80 law firms that form the basis of the Rackle Legal Hiring Index. These firms comprise UK international, US and City/regional firms that consistently account for around 80% of the associate and PSL roles advertised directly in the London market, allowing meaningful trends to be identified.
Recruitment Activity
12 vacancies had already been live entering the quarter and a further 9 new roles were advertised between July and September, resulting in 21 vacancies being active during Q3.
Eight vacancies closed during the quarter, leaving 13 being advertised entering Q4.
Compared with Q2, active vacancies only increased slightly from 19 to 21. However, the flow of new opportunities increased from four to nine. This is a big increase, but is more in line with the number of new vacancies in Q1 2026 or Q4 2025, suggesting Q2 was probably more of a blip.
The breadth of recruitment also stayed the same. 18 firms advertised Tax vacancies during Q3, compared with only 16 during Q2.
Vacancy Duration
13 Real Estate vacancies remained open entering Q4. Of these:
6 had been advertised for three months or less.
1 had been advertised for between three and six months.
6 had been advertised for six months or more.
Of the six roles that had been advertised for more than 6 months, 4 of these were at the senior level. Of the eight roles that were closed during the quarter, none were at the senior level suggesting firms are finding it hard to fill the senior level positions.
Level of Opportunities
As with most other practice areas, the majority of the opportunities are at the mid level. There were two NQ positions that were open during the quarter, but closed within 2 months of opening. in stood out from many other practice areas in terms of opportunities available to newly qualified lawyers. Six vacancies during Q3 were suitable for NQs.
At the start of the quarter there were four roles that were seeking a senior level tax lawyer, none of these closed during the quarter and they were added to by another four roles seeking a senior lawyer, none of which closed either.
Which Firms Were Recruiting?
Recruitment activity was spread across a broad range of firms. 18 firms advertised at least one role and of the nine firms that advertised a new role:
7 were UK international firms.
2 were US firms.
The analysis focuses on firms that advertise vacancies directly through their careers pages. Some firms, particularly a number of US firms, do not advertise their roles on their career pages and therefore cannot be analysed using longitudinal vacancy data. This report should be viewed as an analysis of the advertised Real Estate market, rather than a complete picture of Real Estate recruitment in London.
The Rackle View
At headline level, Tax recruitment changed relatively little during Q3, with 21 vacancies active compared with 19 in Q2. However, looking at the flow of new opportunities gives a rather different picture.
Nine new Tax roles were advertised during Q3, more than double the four recorded in Q2. Given that this was much closer to the level of new recruitment seen in Q1 2026 and Q4 2025, the Q2 slowdown increasingly looks like a quieter quarter rather than the start of a wider decline in demand.
Recruitment was also relatively broad. Each of the nine new vacancies was advertised by a different firm, while 18 firms had a Tax vacancy active at some point during the quarter. This suggests that fresh demand was not being driven by a small number of particularly active recruiters.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the market, however, was at the senior end. Four senior-level roles were already open entering Q3 and another four were added during the quarter, yet none of these positions closed. Four of the six vacancies that had been advertised for more than six months were also senior roles. While the numbers are relatively small, this suggests that firms may be finding experienced Tax lawyers particularly difficult to recruit.
Overall, Q3 points to a recovery in fresh Tax hiring following a quieter Q2, with demand spread across a broad group of firms. The challenge for employers appears to be less about generating vacancies and more about filling some of the senior-level positions already in the market.
If you would like to explore the roles that have been carried over into Q4, please visit our Opportunity tracker.
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