In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate legal departments may be relying more upon contract or temporary workers to help prevent burnout among overworked employees or round out the expertise needed to tackle high stakes issues like privacy. However, the question of whether a temp gig can lead to permanent employment may have no easy answers.

It’s not that legal departments aren’t willing to bring contract workers permanently into the fold. The institutional knowledge those candidates accrue while working a temp gig can make the transition process smoother than it might be with an outside hire. But the number of full-time job openings that are presently available inside of corporate legal departments may be limited, thanks to the pandemic.