Bust Times for 'Tickle Me Corp. Associates'?

Remember when corporate associates in the Bay Area were like the last available Tickle Me Elmo dolls of the 1996 holiday shopping season? You know, the whole stampeding, fighting, and paying absurd prices to get one thing?

It seems like only a few months ago. In fact, it was only a few months ago.

But things are changing a little, Bay Area legal recruiters say, no thanks to the downturn on Wall Street.

SF recruiter Peter Smith of BCG Attorney Search tells us that corporate associates “are still sexy, but they’re kind of sitting in the warming tray. Firms are still not sure what to think about the wobble in the credit market.”

Another recruiter, who didn’t want to be named, said that while firms still say they’re interested in hiring corporate associates, they’ve slowed the hiring process down a lot and are getting more selective.

We’re just talking about firms in the Bay Area — none of that New York business.

Smith said he thinks firms will again hire corporate associates with alacrity once firm managers get over their jitters. “They still have work; no one hired the way they did before the dot-com bust, so firms are still pretty lean.”

What do you think? Will corporate associates regain their status with the hallowed toys of Christmases past, or will their stock continue to sink with the stock market? Or could there even be layoffs?

—  Zusha Elinson