Some 21% of advertising and marketing executives plan to expand their creative teams in the second half of 2015, compared with 33% in the first half of 2015 and 12% a year ago, according to a recent report from The Creative Group.
The report was based on data from 200 phone interviews with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 phone interviews with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.
Most respondents (65%) say they expect to maintain current staff levels through the end of the year and hire primarily to fill vacated roles.
When executives were asked in which areas they plan to add staff in the second half of 2015, creative/art direction and account services topped the list (27% each), followed by content marketing and interactive media (26% each).
Respondents say brand/product management roles are the hardest to fill, followed by account services and Web design/production.
Some 42% of respondents say it is challenging or very challenging to find creative skilled professionals; 38% say it is not challenging, and 21% say they are not looking.
About the research: The report was based on data from 200 phone interviews with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 phone interviews with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.
