Some 11% of marketing and advertising executives say they plan to add new creative (i.e., non-technical) positions to their teams in the second half of 2016, according to recent research from The Creative Group.
In addition, 20% of advertising executives and 10% of marketing executives anticipate increasing the number of freelance staff through the remainder of the year.
The report was based on data from a survey conducted in June 2016 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.
More than half (59%) of respondents say they plan to maintain their current staffing levels through the end of the year and fill only vacated positions.
Moreover, 25% say hiring is frozen or they are not filling vacated positions. Just 3% plan to eliminate some positions.
Some 46% of respondents say finding qualified candidates is not challenging; 36% say it is somewhat challenging.
The top areas executives plan to hire for in the second half of 2016 are content marketing, brand/product management, digital marketing, and Web design/production.
Respondents say the most difficult positions to fill are in Web design/production and customer experience.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey conducted in June 2016 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.
