This thread is so depressing, lots of young talent being wasted.
If it wasn't so close to tragic it would be funny to see your post, which I agree with, being immediately followed by another "anyone get a PFO from Firm X" post. I realise that a good number of people are committed to this particular path by now and can't pursue something else without abandoning a good deal of hard work, but those who can pull out at this point and won't; you're on a fool's errand.
Law doesn't generate work in and of itself, it's a service industry. Without a thriving economy the demand for the service can only go one direction. The difficulties in securing a training contract had materialised before there was any economic downturn so the market, at its peak, was already oversupplied with bright young things competing against each other for limited places. In the current climate the inescapable fact is that many of you just won't get a contract. To continue to pursue it without a plan B is not determination that will be eventually rewarded by a firm, it's lunacy.
An email went around to all fee-earners in a leading firm on Monday last detailing a career break scheme being offered to everyone with a set amount of post-qualification experience, whereby one can avail of a lump sum to disappear for 1 to 2 years. There is understandably a degree of nervousness in the workplace in response to this and all the other indicators and, if the payroll is not trimmed down by this and the natural wastage of staff, the only conclusion is that fee-earners will be let go, something that that particular firm has not done as yet.
There is the argument that trainees cost relatively little to employ, which is true, but they're also of relatively little use in producing billable hours and require a much greater degree of supervision by senior staff. Even if trainee numbers are kept up at the levels that they were during the halcyon days, they just won't be kept on once qualified. If you get a contract now with a big firm and things take a turn for the better before you're qualified, it makes more sense for the firm to re-hire anyone who's been cut in the lean times, or to welcome those on a career break back, or to dip into the deepening pool of unemployed solicitors with good workplace experience than to employ a newly qualified solicitor. The experienced solicitors will accept NQ wages to work with a top firm after a lengthy period of unemployment and will take a lot less time to get up to full fee-earning capacity.
My point is that it's bad, as you all know, and it's not going to get any better for a long time. If I was in your position I would be looking at requalifying in the shortest time possible in a technical discipline (or anything else that you feel you're suited for) and attempting to identify a niche area with some prospects of growth.
I didn't go through the PFO lottery myself but I can only imagine from reading the posts here how soul-destroying it is. That kind of negativity is not good for anyone's morale. But if you focus on the pluses, you're capable people to have got even this far and there are or will be paths of much less resistance to a comfortable life in a rewarding position.
While you may love the law and be loathe to give up on the thoughts of a career at the coal face of the profession, at the moment law most certainly does not love you.