Skills shortages and stagnant salaries drive marketing industry job churn, says recruiter
Modest wage growth is encouraging marketing staff to look for new roles while employers are struggling to find senior staff with the right skills, claims a report from recruiting firm, Perceptor.
The company revealed in its latest annual survey of the job market that recruitment for senior marketers remains tight, but warned juniors increasingly need a digital track record and a stable job history to win new roles.
Mark O’Connor, founder of recruitment firm Perceptor
Current conditions are the strongest since the 2008 financial crisis, Perceptor said, with chief marketing officers at large corporations being offered salaries between $385,000 and $475,000 along with bonuses and incentives.
“Across all sectors there has been more movement in this market than previous years,” the report stated about the demand for top level roles.
“The opportunity for employers is there are generally more candidates at this level than roles available so hiring companies are able to source from a strong field. That being said, it is difficult to find candidates with a strong strategic marketing depth and a deep understanding of digital as part of that marketing mix.”
To fill the roles, companies looking for senior executives who could deal with ambiguity, manage stakeholders and had the ability to respond to and drive change.
Lower down the job ladder, modest or disappointing wage growth within existing roles were encouraging mid and lower lever candidates to be open about external opportunities with the report claiming junior staff – those earning less than $130,000 were willing to change roles every 12 to 18 months in order to secure incremental salary improvements.
At the junior level, digital channel understanding is becoming a core skillset of the vast majority of opportunities with the report noting an ongoing trend of digital and marketing departments becoming different entities within an organisation.
“Traditional, print, offline, local area marketing and events / corporate hospitality – while still relevant and a key component of many marketing roles – are slowly being dwarfed by the growing need for online marketing attribution, tracking, and consumer insights understanding,” the report said.
Specific platform expertise with products including the Adobe Stack, Google Analytics as well as Salesforce Cloud is also becoming more important with employers. Exposure to different marketing and online tools, and being well versed in automation, CRM, eCommerce and online tracking software are also advantages for lower level candidates.
“Key things to talk about in interviews at this very competitive level would include taking on ownership of a hands-on marketing role,” said the report. “Whether it be a specific channel or driving end-to-end marketing activities across the broader business.
“Whilst strategy is definitely a key component at this level, hiring managers are especially interested in candidates’ abilities to articulate specific projects and campaigns, and how they have implemented or executed them from beginning to end.
“Simply being able todo a job well is no longer the only requirement for stepping into a new role. Cultural fit / personality fit and the level of enthusiasm an applicant can bring to the role are decisive components of whether someone is a preferred candidate at the end of the recruitment process.”
The report also warned that employers still are looking for stability in a candidate’s job history, observing: “Retention and tenure periods of approximately 2 years are still the standard, with career progression in previous companies and roles being a strong indicator of future success.
“Internal progression tends to be a stronger look on CVs rather than constant moves across different organisations for that next step-up, as workplace loyalty is a key component for top marketers.”
The skills shortage is fuelled by recruiters who have no idea, who try to speak on specialist topic panels and events
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this is a bad comment and you should feel bad about it.
the skills shortage is caused by a lack of investment in hiring, training and retaining entry level and junior talent and then the industry’s lack of vision in importing talent from related fields.
coupled with the net loss of talent to overseas roles, other industries, small business, parenthood etc it means that companies and therefore recruiters, both internal and external have to hire and promote from a smaller talent pool for management and leadership roles
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Hhmmm,
Just to note. That comment came from “Hmmm” and not the more respected, articulate and informed commentary from “Hhmmm”.
Find your own voice “Hmmm”.
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