A Message From the Editor The data privacy carnival ride keeps spinning faster and faster: Last week, it was Connecticut’s turn on the wheel, with the state unanimously passing a data privacy bill that is expected to be signed by the governor in the coming days. That adds yet another to a burgeoning data privacy patchwork that now includes multiple state regulations, international privacy laws like the GDPR and China’s PIPL, and even consumer-facing corporate stipulations like Apple’s upcoming app store deletion requirements. As the cycle continues to move, it’s no surprise to me that privacy professional hiring is a faster and faster process as well.
Isha Marathe reported on TRU Staffing Partners’ 2022 Data Privacy Jobs report earlier this week, which found that there was a 30% increase in data privacy roles between 2020 and 2021. But what stood out to me is how those roles were being filled: Midmarket non-contract hiring periods dropped from around three to six weeks in 2019 to roughly eight to 12 days in 2021, while executive hiring periods dropped from around three to five months to about three to six weeks. To me, it’s an indication that law firms and corporate legal departments see privacy as a necessity, one that they need somebody now to fix.
And yet, many privacy departments are “still in the building phase,” TRU’s Jared Coseglia said. “They might have an attorney in the general counsel’s office who’s their privacy go-to, but a lot of companies are still in a maturity model of building rather than maintaining a [data privacy] department.” That means, for those who answer the call, a true opportunity to do something different is on the horizon. And the job market seems to be turning quickly enough to provide that opportunity. – Zach Warren, editor-in-chief, Legaltech News |
