The employment outlook for creative talent is expected to remain relatively steady in the second half of 2017, according to a survey of advertising and marketing executives by The Creative Group staffing firm.
Just 9 percent of the executives surveyed said they plan to expand their teams. The majority (64 percent) anticipate maintaining staff levels and hiring primarily to fill vacated roles. About 4 percent of executives said they planned to reduce positions and 21 percent said they would be freezing employment (not filling vacated positions or creating new positions).
The executives who said they plan to add staff will be adding employees in one or more positions, including:
- Account services: 24 percent
- Mobile design/development: 21 percent
- Marketing research: 21 percent
- Public relations: 20 percent
- Social media: 19 percent
- Customer experience: 18 percent
- Web design/production: 18 percent
- Digital marketing: 18 percent
- Print design/production: 18 percent
- Brand/product management: 17 percent
- Interactive media: 17 percent
- Copywriting: 16 percent
- Media services: 16 percent
- Content marketing: 15 percent
- Creative/art direction: 14 percent
Recruiting Challenges Persist
Forty-five percent of advertising and marketing executives said it’s challenging to find creative professionals today. Hiring managers at large advertising agencies (100 or more employees) expect the greatest difficulty, with 67 percent reporting it’s somewhat or very challenging to identify the talent they seek. According to survey, the hardest roles to fill are those in media services, customer experience, and account services.
To overcome recruiting challenges, companies may expand their search geographically. Forty-five percent of executives said they are now more willing to look outside their city or state to find the right person for a creative position than they were three years ago.
“Demand for digital content and services continues to grow, and companies struggle to find professionals well-versed in the latest platforms and strategies used to create unique and positive customer experiences,” said Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group. “Given strong competition for these highly skilled individuals, employees need to take a proactive and streamlined hiring approach to secure top talent.”
The Creative Group Blog offers tips on hiring creative professionals in a competitive market and advice for job-seekers.
About the Research
The national study was developed by The Creative Group and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on more than 400 telephone interviews — with approximately 200 marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees, and 200 advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.
The Creative Group specializes in connecting interactive, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations talent with the best companies on a project, contract-to-hire, and full-time basis. Visit roberthalf.com/creative group.
