The demand for skilled talent for marketing and creative teams remains high in mid-2024. That means employers must intensify their efforts to hire and retain both long-term and short-term talent if they want to meet their hiring goals in the months ahead.
It helps to know which roles are in highest demand so you can prepare to compete effectively for top candidates — and understand where to amplify retention efforts within your organization.
Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report can equip you with that insight. It highlights the latest data from surveys of hiring managers and our analysis of thousands of job postings to help you make informed hiring and management decisions.
Let’s look at what we learned from our research for the midyear update of our report.
The first half of 2024 saw robust growth in new marketing and creative jobs, according to an analysis of a proprietary dataset of more than 3.5 million U.S. job postings, including 60,000 Robert Half placements. Much of this expansion occurred in the professional and business services sector, with the addition of 80,000 new marketing and creative jobs in the last six months alone.
The first half of 2024 also saw a significant increase in demand for corporate marketing jobs. Roles such as marketing manager, marketing director and marketing coordinator saw significant growth, with an increase of 24,000, 18,000 and 10,000 jobs respectively. This trend signals a growing recognition among employers of the strategic importance of marketing in business success.
In the creative domain, event planners and web designers have remained in demand since our last update. Average unemployment rates for these roles are 1.7% and 2.7%, respectively, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Explore our Demand for Skilled Talent report to see what specializations employers need most.
Managers within marketing and creative departments and agencies are trying to staff teams to help support top strategic priorities in focus for 2024 like digital marketing, marketing automation and content marketing initiatives. But many are encountering significant competition for talent, particularly for positions that call for graphic design, digital marketing and web design skills.
Meanwhile, fewer professionals are actively looking for jobs. Robert Half’s research also shows that the Big Stay is in effect, with only 35% of U.S. workers planning to look for a new job in the second half of 2024. That’s down from 49% during the same period last year.
While 82% of marketing and creative managers said they face challenges finding skilled candidates in today’s hiring environment, many aim to recruit talent for their departments or agencies in the second half of 2024.
Nearly half of the managers surveyed (48%) said they plan to expand their teams and staff both new and vacated positions. Seventy-one percent reported that they need to hire candidates for entry-level roles, and 40% are looking to bring in talent for management positions.
To help augment their permanent teams, 64% of marketing and creative managers plan to increase their use of contract professionals in the second half of 2024, especially for roles in:
Digital marketing (e.g., digital marketing manager, search engine optimization (SEO) specialist)Marketing (e.g., brand manager, product marketing manager) Content strategy, development and management
Future-forward measures, such as providing flexible work arrangements and the ability to learn and work with emerging technology like AI, can help companies attract and keep in-demand professionals. So, too, can providing more traditional offerings that many employees value today, such as:
Competitive compensation, including compelling perks and benefits
Opportunities for career advancement and professional development
Programs and policies that promote a healthy work-life balance (our workplace research shows one-third of professionals are experiencing high levels of burnout)
Employers may also want to consider engaging resources like specialized recruiters to find the marketing and creative talent they need for their teams, including passive job seekers prepared to make a move for the right opportunity and high-potential candidates willing to be trained.
Want more insights? Check out the full midyear update of Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report.
The Demand for Skilled Talent report by Robert Half is an authoritative source providing essential insights into employment trends. This report has offered a deep dive into the U.S. hiring landscape for over a decade, spotlighting challenges and strategies to attract and retain talent. It explores what employees seek in their careers, identifies common recruitment errors and suggests solutions. The report spans finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources, proving crucial for business leaders and managers.
