• by Ray Schultz , May 17, 2018

Email experts are among the hottest hires this year, judging by 2018 Marketing Hiring Trends, a report by the recruiting firm McKinley Marketing Partners.

Hiring for email specialists is 40% above average. That makes it third only to digital advertising, which is 45% above the norm, and content creation and curation, which is at 42%, the study notes.

In general, 59% are looking for digital marketing skills, and 43% are looking for creative abilities. It helps if the candidates know something about automation. In addition, 34% seek expertise in traditional marketing, despite cutbacks in that specialty.

McKinley surveyed 329 marketing professionals.

In one twist, McKinley found that marketing hires declined by 32% on average in 2017. But that could be due to the low unemployment rate 

“At full employment, businesses have an extremely difficult time finding available, qualified workers to fill job openings,” the study notes.

This is compounded by the fact that 21% of marketers are not looking for jobs, and 40% are passive about job seeking.

Of the firms represented, 32% will increase their staffing budgets this year, with larger firms leading the way. In 2017, companies allocated 43% of their marketing budgets to staffing.  

This year, 97% will maintain or increase their marketing hiring budgets, and 69% will expand their teams. 

However, 39% expect cutbacks compared with 22% last year. These cuts will hit people in traditional marketing (for 37%), creative services (32%) and relationship management (24%). 

There also will be some reductions in marketing operations, digital marketing, product marketing, research and analysis, and communications. 

In general, 59% demand digital marketing skills, and 43% are looking for expertise in creative services. In addition, 34% seek expertise in traditional marketing, despite cutbacks in that specialty.

Within creative services, both graphic design and copywriting are enjoying a hiring spike of 32% above average. 

Overall, 44% plan to hire in some areas without cutbacks.

Another 25% anticipate hires in some areas and cutbacks in others, with a net gain to the marketing staff.

In addition, 17% will keep their current levels with no hires or cutbacks. And 11% will hire in some areas but will cut back in others, with no change in levels. Finally, 3% will cut back in some areas, and will not hire.

Millennials are more likely to prefer a higher salaries over office perks, but would accept lower pay for clear growth and progression. However, many would accept a reduced salary for unlimited vacation days.