Commentary
9% Of Creative Firms Hiring; Balance Stabilized
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 10, 2017
According to new research, and a report from the staffing firm The Creative Group, the employment outlook for creative talent is expected to remain relatively steady in the second half of 2017, with 9% of advertising and marketing executives surveyed saying they plan to expand their teams. The majority of respondents (64%) anticipate maintaining staff levels and hiring primarily to fill vacated roles.
Creative Talent Hiring Plans | |||
U.S. Hiring Climate for Creatives | July-Dec.2017* | Jan.-June2017 | July-Dec.2016 |
Expanding — adding new positions | 9% | 12% | 13% |
Maintaining — only filling vacated positions | 64% | 67% | 59% |
Freezing — not filling vacated or creating new positions | 21% | 20% | 25% |
Reducing — eliminating positions | 4% | 0% | 3% |
Don't know | 0% | 1% | 0% |
Source: The Creative Group, July 2017 | |||
And, please find an Infographic of charts and tables enhancing this report here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/filecache.drivetheweb.com/mr4enh_rhi-creative/595/TCG_0617_GRAPH_Hiring-Climate.jpg | |||
The executives surveyed who indicated they will add staff plan to do so in a range of areas in the second half of 2017, but positions in account services, mobile design and development, and marketing research topped the list, says the report.
Top Areas for Hiring* | |
Positions In | % of Respondents |
Account services | 24% |
Mobile design/development | 21% |
Marketing research | 21% |
Public relations | 20% |
Social media | 19% |
Customer experience | 18% |
Web design/production | 18% |
Digital marketing | 18% |
Print design/production | 18% |
Brand/product management | 17% |
Interactive media | 17% |
Copywriting | 16% |
Media services | 16% |
Content marketing | 15% |
Creative/art direction | 14% |
Source: The Creative Group, July 2017 | |
45% of advertising and marketing executives said it's challenging to find creative professionals today, says the report. Hiring managers at large advertising agencies (100 or more employees) expect the greatest difficulty, with 67% reporting it's somewhat or very challenging to identify the talent they seek. According to the survey, the hardest roles to fill are those in media services, customer experience and account services.
To overcome recruiting challenges, companies may be more apt to expand their search geographically. 45% of executives said they're 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, says the report.
Diane Domeyer, executive director of The Creative Group, says "… demand for digital content and services continues to grow… companies struggle to find professionals well-versed in the latest platforms and strategies .., Given strong competition… employers take a proactive and streamlined hiring approach to secure top talent…"
The national study 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.
For additional information from the Creative Group, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.