Media agency grad salaries in question after prominent group’s low pay revealed
Graduate salaries in media agencies have come under scrutiny after rates at a leading network were revealed to be only marginally more than minimum wage and well below the industry average.
Mumbrella has been told by multiple sources that holding company Omnicom Media Group (OMG) offers a graduate salary of $46,875, which equates to $901.44 a week, or $23.72 on an hourly rate. That figure is said to be inclusive of superannuation.
Median graduate salaries revealed at media agencies
An internal salary guide from the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), seen by Mumbrella, reports the median amount paid to graduates is $57,300 per year.
OMG includes agencies OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science and more. While the pay rate is low, there is no suggestion that OMG is not meeting its legal obligations with regards to graduate remuneration.
Currently, the national minimum wage sits at $812.60 per week ($21.38 per hour). The lowest classification of the government-set Private Sector Clerk Award, often used as a benchmark in adland, is $44,793 per year, or $861.40 per week, for a maximum of 38 hours with no overtime.
When approached by Mumbrella with the suggested graduate salary, OMG would not confirm the figures or if it operated on its own award agreement.
However, Peter Horgan, chief executive of OMG Australia and New Zealand, and chair of the MFA, said: “As the leading media buying group in Australia we are competitive on salary. This varies by level and experience.
“Graduates make up a small component of our staff. We invest heavily in training and remuneration accelerates quickly. We are vested in building long and prosperous careers within Omnicom Media Group and indeed the broader industry.”
Worth it in the long run?
Mumbrella was told by one OMG graduate that they used to earn more while at university receiving Youth Allowance and a modest wage from a part-time job.
“As much as I despised that work, I was definitely earning more with less hours,” they said, despite having graduated with a Master’s degree in 2022.
“I would be surprised if there are any places that pay less [than OMG], if I’m completely honest. When people ask me how the new job is, as I’m [several] months in now, I tend to say the money is rubbish but everything else is absolutely stellar.”
After tax and superannuation, the employee’s take-home pay is just $37,000 per year ($711 per week). To put that in context, the current average unit rent in Sydney – where 59% of those employed in the industry reside – is $550 per week, while in Melbourne – home to 27% of the media agency population – it’s $400 per week.
Spending pressure has vastly increased in Sydney’s innner suburbs. Source: CommBank iQ
“I kind of had to swallow that pill and move on with it,” the graduate said. “But for sure I was very surprised, I suppose, at the actual rate itself.
“And it’s kind of a common agreement in the office – it’s not like it’s hidden or an awkward thing. The general consensus is that if you stick around things ultimately work out a lot better.”
The belief that conditions will improve is a commonly held one. Several agency staff in the general industry, not just limited to OMG, told Mumbrella that top brass often tell juniors to do “the initial hard yards”.
OMG’s agency OMD alone lists 549 employees on LinkedIn, making it the largest agency employer in the country. At least 66 of those staff are either ‘media assistant’, ‘trading assistant’ or some other variation.
A timely discussion for the MFA
Mumbrella understands the MFA is hosting a timely member briefing on the Fair Work Act and annualised changes to the Modern Clerks Award later today.
According to Sophie Madden, CEO of the MFA, the industry body’s media agency members employed a total of 505 new starters in 2022, with “most of these being graduates”. This makes up nine percent of the 4,685 reported in the MFA’s most recent industry census.
Longstanding MFA CEO, Sophie Madden will address member agencies today
Other international holding groups, including Publicis, GroupM, Dentsu and IPG Mediabrands, confirmed to Mumbrella that their entry level salaries begin at a baseline of $55,000 and go up to $63,100, inclusive of super.
Several confirmed the ‘level 2’ classification is used for graduates, however others have moved away from the Award entirely due to unrealistic expectations of logging overtime.
While the MFA’s salary guide lower quartile figure of $47,895 for graduates is only marginally more than what Mumbrella was told OMG graduates earn, one agency boss said that figure was left behind “at least five years ago,” while others confirmed that view.
A headhunter Mumbrella spoke to who works on creative agencies rather than media agencies added, “I have never in my career placed anyone anywhere with a figure that starts with a four.” They added that $55k was the minimum figure they dealt with.
Salaries low but investment high?
One of the MFA’s key focuses is talent attraction and retention, with awareness of media agency roles among university graduates low.
It launched its Internship Hub this month, an online resource for uni students and their lecturers to find and apply for placements at MFA member agencies, “with the aim of attracting more graduates to pursue media agency careers.”
While the majority of agency bosses agree starting salaries are not “ideal”, there is a shared consensus that agencies invest significant amounts into training graduates.
That investment can prove wasted if staff leave early in their career at an agency, but the MFA has a solution for that.
It promotes a no-poaching agreement for the first 18 months of graduate tenures – justified by what Madden described as the “high level of on-the-job and formal training required for a new starter to be job-ready in our industry.”
“This does not prevent an individual from applying for new roles or changing agencies,” she added, “however we do not believe it is appropriate for members to directly approach or ‘poach’ a new starter/trainee in this training period.”
On the flip side, agencies have a free-hit in the first 18 months with graduates, leaving graduate salaries largely unchallenged. However, those who decide to continue after that have the opportunity to swiftly scale up their salaries.
Another agency boss suggested with the incoming changes to pay secrecy terms in June, graduates across the industry will be “a lot more open to discussing pay”, and employers will need to ensure more than ever staff are paid according to market standards, and in line with their peers.
While the MFA Code sets out that all members should pay employees what is legally due to them, according to the classification of their job descriptions, “we do not set industry salary levels and job descriptions vary significantly”, Madden said.
She continued: “Based on the MFA’s industry salary data, the median industry starter salary is higher than the award requirement.
“We are an industry where you learn your craft on-the-job, through formal and informal training, and this is reflected in industry starting salaries.
“However, once you are trained, salaries increase exponentially. This has particularly played out in recent years where we’ve seen large salary jumps for roles.”
With conversations rife regarding ‘back to the office’ in recent weeks, rising economic pressures, added to a reintroduction of public transport costs will continue to prove tricky for the industry’s new graduates.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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Also to Change My Nappy, there is a big difference between cutting your cloth and having no choice but to go to the office on a Saturday to check proformas because there is no time during the regular office hours or the additional office hours you put in across Monday to Friday, because “teams are purposely under staffed to allow room for promotions”.
Though I hope the “walk it off champ” way of life has seen you prosper
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Started at OMD in 2012 and was on $35k inc Super. Was stoked for a foot in the door, i’m not sure if that is the sentiment for current entry level staffers.
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Shocking stuff – omg indeed…
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As someone who was entry-level at a WPP agency only a few years ago, this comes as no surprise to me. In 2019, it was $45k flat including super for all entry-levels there.
Holding companies take in the bright-eyed and spit them out exhausted, creatively drained, and utterly disenfranchised. They place no value on their entry-level talent, but are wholly reliant on them to sustain their bottom lines.
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Especially as $63k is higher than Omnicom’s account exec salary too…
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The industry wants to be treated seriously like other professional services yet pays significantly under for tertiary qualified grad talent.
We need to aspire to meet or beat the consultancies, legal firms, software businesses etc when it comes to pay.
There is a relationship between poor grad pay and these positions being hard to fill. @change my nappy I really hope you aren’t someone with the responsibility of managing and developing people, you don’t understand the privilege of that.
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isnt there a talent shortage in media too? if only there was some way to attract young grads to join the industry. Think, Seymour, think.
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All this is doing is keeping diversity in the industry down. The only people who can afford to work on a salary like that are people who have other sources of support – most likely parents who can provide food and shelter.
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Nothing groundbreaking about low graduate salary (not agreeing with it to be clear). What people fail to grasp is that agencies gun for a 20-30% profit margin. And their staff? Most hustle 20-30% more hours than a mere 40-hour work week….. do the maths! Where does the profit come from……
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Both situations paint the industry in a bad light, you’d think over the years things would improve and sure $400 to $700 is an increase but overall both, with cost of living, are a bad look on the ind
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Truly shocking that an agency that prides itself on diversity and winning agency of the year awards can pay something close to minimum wage (assuming you work back and don’t leave at 5pm). For all the preaching about one of the best places to work, we are still talking about an agency that has gambling, fast food, alcohol brands on its roster and pays too low.
You would have to wonder where the big salaries are going.
At least gen z will not be fooled by the occasional interstate or overseas trip and some free booze.
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This was obvious to anyone that saw how many people leave Omnicom to go to iProspect or Joy or literally anywhere else because it almost always pays better. Based on an easily accessible document in a drive folder, they also significantly inflate how much people are being paid to their clients as well, despite the retainer fees not matching.
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Creative agencies aren’t any better – most graduates start as AEs and get 50k including super. And those poor kids do more work than anyone else!
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Quite funny reading about OMD paying incredibly low wages to entry level roles but being shortlisted for media agency of the year at Mumbrella awards on the same day.
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I was at the Sydney office of a global advertising agency in 2008, when they were at the top of their game. Their one month graduate creative launchpad paid $1,500. In many cases it also lasted 6 plus months, as they kept stringing the graduates along with the promise of full-time work which may, or may not, eventuate.
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Independents want you in the office 4-5 days a week. No thanks
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We have budgets to hit.
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Thanks for such great insights “change my nappy”
So your solution to the industry ripping off junior employees financially while setting unhealthy work standards is to “go off and work in retail instead”.
Joisus, I bet you manage a team as well. Sad.
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You have to wonder what the true hourly rate is once you factor in the excessive hours the juniors likely have to work…
Cupcakes and doggy days are great but they don’t pay the (ever increasing) rent.
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When I and numerous other people started at MCN about 6-7 years ago, we were only on $42k annually. Moderated under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy
Only $42k while expecting to do 40+ hour weeks, travel to the office every single day and often working late into the night. Disgracful tbh
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started at 40k in 2016 so its nice to see not much has changed
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I’ve got some old payslips from working at OMD in 2009 just after I graduated – $14.68 per hour. The combination of moving from the country to Sydney on that wage and constant long hours had me leaving that career after around 18 months. Horrible memories. Shame on you OMD.
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“earning, experience and heaven help us, resilience and capability that was gathered by doing it a bit tough” – How someone could honestly think “I did it tough, and therefore other people should do it tough” is beyond me. You can’t pay bills with resilience. Your boss isn’t going to see your message and give you a raise for defending them so vigorously. (that said, there’s no chance that someone who says “cut your cloth accordingly” isn’t 50+. If you’re going to pretend be a young person in a comment section, you might want to, at least, attempt to write like you’re not old enough to have voted for John Howard)
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Still around. Just work for independants now where their business model is not having a team of juniors run accounts after telling a prospective client in the pitch process that the CEO, Head of Strategy and Head of Trading will be hands on with their account
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I started working as an entry level media assistant at mediacom Sydney in 2008 and I was paid $400 a week after tax/super
For the hours they expected you to work (literally consistant 12+ hr days and going in on weekends) the assistants were criminally underpaid
[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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Maybe a more accurate tagline for that media industry recruitment drive – “We are the changers” – could’ve been “We are the short-changers”.
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How can OMG pay $47k incl super and another media agency pay $63k incl super for the same grad with no experience. This is a 34% differential – way too big. Its awful to see a big group like OMG in our industry be listed as the lowest paying, especially for those who are most vulnerable – the new starters in our industry. We have an industry wide problem attracting talent to agencies when grads have multiple career options. Having one of our biggest groups pay just above minimum wage is not helping.
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Agree with @Gr’s comment about diversity suffering as a result of near minimum wage salaries. Young juniors who came here as students with no family to house them rent free can’t afford to support themselves in this industry so we lose their contribution at the entry point. Maybe why our executives at the major hold co’s don’t reflect diversity either.
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I know for a fact that other agencies are paying exactly the same salary as per what the MFA has advised and what is noted in the article above. The difference with OMG is that they do actually invest in training and development and their staff don’t work hours and hours of overtime like other agencies. Also, different markets pay based on the CPL, a Brisbane salary for example can’t be compared to Sydney. The article isn’t clear on this.
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@Anonymous – I’d take 4-5 days in the office over being short changed any day of the week
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Do we think there is a single industry where entry level roles aren’t paid poorly relative to those further on in their careers?
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Interesting that these people who started years ago and needed their comments moderated are all still around. Maybe pay isn’t the only thing, maybe there is some learning, experience and heaven help us, resilience and capability that was gathered by doing it a bit tough. I started at a similar time on a similar wage but it’s nothing to whinge about. Cut your cloth accordingly. You wanted in to the industry, that was the price. If it’s important to get penalty rates and be paid overtime perhaps you should have all gone off and worked retail and see where that got you.
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OMG’s low pay is the manifestation of clients demands for cheap rates, which is a manifestation of quarterly growth targets to please shareholders like retail funds who want to hit that investment growth to get fat bonuses.
It’s like if you find out that your cheap clothes are made by low paid workers. You can blame the retailers all you want, but if people keep buying the cheap clothes they have no reason to stop exploiting workers.
The fix for this? A private media agency that only takes on privately owned clients. Breaking the quarterly reporting cycle and giving breathing room for long term growth.
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“high level of on-the-job and formal training required for a new starter to be job-ready in our industry.” LOL.
Learning how to flip burger patties or making a decent espresso also requires a high level of on-the-job training. With the actual type of work these ‘graduates’ are doing in their first 6-12 months, I am surprised OMG value them at 46k to be honest.
There’s absolutely nothing they do that cannot be automated or be replaced by some highschool grads with STEM mindset and excel spreadsheet knowhows. THE Cold hard truth is that these media agency entry level roles just aren’t comparable to the actual, name worthy grad programs looking for specialised workforce that pays “uni grad salaries” like law and accounting.
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