Things were brutal while it was WFO but things got even more intense on WFH. Clients started having unreasonable requests and expectations. Nobody thought to draw the line. Now its 247365. But the trigger point has come now when people are being asked to come back to office. WFH, for its ills still allowed people to be around family and friends which allowed them to manage the stress levels. Now that people have to go back to office with the WFH level demands, just when they had/would have had reached a stage of balance means it just doesn't cut it. Even in my case, being away from the glitz of the big city, I keep thinking about whether its worth going back.

Attrition is always a consideration at tier 1 firms. Thats why the partners and senior associates that you see in these firms may not be the brightest but they have the tenacity to survive in the brutal atmosphere that is prevalent in T1s. However, it has to be said that attrition is at its highest ever this year and especially in certain practice areas. In my eight years of work-ex, I have not seen so many people come and go in such a short span of time. The world has changed forever.

Several people leave because they want a change of team that's not possible in some firms. Some of them shift to another city, maybe to other firms or the same firm. Some join other T1 firms hoping that the scene will be better. Some join boutique firms for slightly easier workload and occasionally greater variety of work. Some try in-house. Some need a break from work and stress and try to get one via a foreign LLM. After that they may come back and join firms/academia, or stay over abroad if interested and have options available. Some sit for exams like UPSC or judiciary. Some go to policy bodies like Vidhi. Some try out entrepreneurial ideas if they have got the resources. Some of course try their hand at litigation. Those interested in foreign LLMs especially often do a judicial clerkship first to better their chances for scholarships. Regulators like SEBI, CCI, TRAI also hire some at times.

Over the last 3 years before the pandemic, on an average 50-60% freshers have quit tier one firms within 2 years of joining. I am not sure about JSA, but this holds true for SAM, CAM, AZB, KCO, Luthra. Trilegal the number is slightly lesser, but not by that much as to make a difference.