International firm Squire Patton Boggs is to commence a redundancy consultation after discovering ‘more efficient ways of working’ during lockdown.

According to a statement released by the firm, a small number of UK administrative staff will be affected by the job cuts. No lawyers or other legal personnel will be impacted by the proposed changes, and a number of administrative team members will be brought back from furlough.

A spokesperson for Squire Patton Boggs said: ‘The recent prolonged period of remote working has resulted in us adopting new more efficient ways of working, particularly taking advantages of the new technologies available to us. This unfortunately means we are proposing a small number of redundancies from our administrative teams in the UK. The decision to put forward this proposal is has been made after careful consideration.’

The news is the latest in a string of City redundancies. In June, international firm Reed Smith announced plans to lay off lawyers and staff in its London office, while Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is to lay off around 40 employees and to close its Beijing office in response to ‘continued economic uncertainty around the globe’.

Meanwhile, last month national firm Irwin Mitchell warned that 110 jobs may be at risk as it prepares to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown.