The employment outlook for marketing and advertising professionals is looking up for the coming quarter, according to The Creative Group Hiring Index for Marketing and Advertising Professionals. (This is particularly good news for the savvy web development and marketing-types in Phoenix.)
Eighteen percent of marketing and advertising executives interviewed said they plan to increase staff levels in the third quarter of 2010, while 12 percent anticipate declines. The net 6 percent increase in projected hiring activity is up five percentage points from the previous quarter's projection.
The national study was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service providing creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. It 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.
Marketing and advertising executives were asked, "Does your company or agency plan to increase or decrease the number of full-time marketing/advertising personnel on your staff during the third quarter of 2010?" Their responses:
Increase 18%, decrease 12%, no change 70%
"Many companies are initiating new projects, particularly those with a digital or social media component, and they require additional resources to complete these tasks," said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group. "In many cases, they realize their current teams are either stretched thin or lack the necessary expertise, so they are bringing in extra support."
Jobs in Demand
When executives who intend to hire were asked in which areas they plan to add staff, web design/production ranked first, with 16 percent of the response, followed by account services and creative/art direction (each 12 percent). Despite high unemployment levels, 45 percent of respondents said it's challenging for their firms to find skilled professionals; this is unchanged from last quarter.
Specialty Area Percentage Hiring:
Web design/production 16%
Account services 12%
Creative/art direction 12%
Print design/production 11%
Social media 11%
Public relations 11%
Marketing research 11%
Brand/product management 11%
Interactive 10%
Media services 7%
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Copywriting 6%
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*Note: Multiple responses permitted. Top responses shown.
Source: The Creative Group
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