Marketing and Ad Execs Reveal Second-Quarter Hiring Plans

According to The Creative Group Hiring Index for Marketing and Advertising Professionals, 13 percent of marketing and advertising executives plan to add full-time staff in the next three months. Only 3 percent forecast reductions in personnel. Most respondents, 80 percent, expect to make no changes to the size of their teams.

Key Findings

  • Ninety-one percent of marketing and advertising executives report they are confident in their companies’ growth prospects for the second quarter, up two points from first-quarter projections.
  • Account services, web design/production and brand/product management are the specialties in greatest demand, according to survey respondents.
  • Forty-one percent of survey respondents said it’s challenging to find skilled creative professionals today, down four points from three months ago.

“Companies are moving more of their advertising and marketing budgets to digital and online media, driving demand for professionals with expertise in this specialization,” said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group. “There also is an ongoing need for account services professionals to help manage a growing number of current and prospective client relationships, as well as keep projects on track and within budget.”

Marketing and Advertising Specialties in Demand

When executives were asked in which areas they plan to add staff, account services ranked first for the second consecutive quarter, along with web design/production (each with 20 percent); brand/product management followed with 18 percent. Forty-one percent of respondents said it’s challenging for their firms to find skilled creative professionals.

Marketing and advertising executives were asked, “In which of the following areas do you expect to hire in the second quarter of 2012?” Their responses:

  • Account services: 20%
  • Web design/production: 20%
  • Brand/product management: 18%
  • Social media: 17%
  • Media services: 16%
  • Interactive media: 15%
  • Print design/production: 15%
  • Public relations: 14%
  • Marketing research: 13%
  • Mobile applications development: 12%
  • Creative/art direction: 10%
  • Copywriting: 7%

About the Hiring Index

The Creative Group Hiring Index for Marketing and Advertising Professionals is based on more than 500 telephone interviews — approximately 375 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees within the United States.

The interviews were conducted by an independent research firm. Information from the study is featured in the Robert Half Professional Employment Report, launched last year and the first study of its kind to monitor the hiring environment for professional-level positions exclusively. Based on more than 4,000 telephone interviews with executives throughout the United States, it provides insight on employment trends to help businesses and job seekers prepare for the upcoming quarter. To see how hiring within the creative profession has changed since last quarter and how it compares to other sectors, please visit roberthalf.us/per.

The Creative Group (TCG) specializes in placing a range of highly skilled interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals with a variety of firms on a project and full-time basis.

LINKS

About The Creative Group

The Creative Group Hiring Index for Advertising and Marketing Professionals