Most marketing and advertising executives in the United States plan to maintain the size of their current staff in the first half of 2016 and only hire to replace vacated positions, according to a recent report from The Creative Group.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted in December 2015 of 200 marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.
Some 76% of respondents say they plan to maintain the size of their current creative (non-technical) staff in the first half of 2016; 11% expect to add new positions, 10% plan to freeze hiring, and 1% think they'll have to reduce staff.
Some 27% of respondents say they expect to fill content marketing positions in 2016, the most demand for any creative marketing job.
More than half of respondents (58%) say it is somewhat or very challenging to find skilled creative marketing and advertising professionals for open roles.
Respondent say the most challenging roles to fill are in the brand/product management and customer experience areas.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted in December 2015 of 200 marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.
