Web Design, Creative in Most Demand Next Year

October 5, 2009

This article is included in these additional categories:

Agency Business | Creative & Formats | Media & Entertainment | PR | Staffing

More than one-third (34%) of advertising and marketing executives intend to add staff within the next year, while just 10% plan to decrease staffing levels at their firm, according to a survey about future hiring plans by the Creative Group.

The majority (55%) of those surveyed say they plan to keep staffing levels steady, the survey found.

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Digital, Creative in Most Demand

In terms which areas within advertising/marketing functions will see the most hiring, the largest number of execs,? 52%, plan to increase staffing in web design or production. Creative or art direction, at 50%, is the second-most-anticipated area for hiring, followed by interactive and account services, both at 48%. Other areas in which ad and marketing execs expect to be hiring include brand/product management (35%), marketing research (32%), copywriting (26%), print design/production (25%), and PR (23%).

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Media services brought up the rear, at 10%, writes MediaBuyerPlanner.

“The hiring of creative professionals often signals that a company is preparing for growth by increasing its investment in advertising and marketing initiatives,” said Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group. “Many firms are particularly interested in expanding their digital presence. This is an area in which a number of companies continued to invest even in the downturn, and as the economy improves, they will want to build their capabilities further.”

Slabinski cautioned, however, that advertising and marketing executives are taking a judicious approach to hiring. “Businesses often opt to bring in people on a project basis to avoid layoffs if the economy loses momentum,” she said. “Supplementing the core team with freelance professionals allows companies to more easily adjust staffing levels as conditions change.”

The survey comes as the rate of global ad spend decline has begun to slow. In the second quarter of 2009, global ad spending slid 5.8% in Q2 09, following a 7.9% decline in Q1, according to Nielsen.

A recent employment survey from Bernhart Associates LLC found that the average job search for an unemployed direct marketer lasts 28 weeks, longer than the US national average for jobless workers.

About the survey: The national study was developed by The Creative Group and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on 250 telephone interviews – 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from the nation’s 2,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly selected from the nation’s 2,000 largest companies.

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