A new survey suggests better times ahead for the industry’s job seekers as more executives indicate they’ll be hiring before summer.
Toronto-based firm The Creative Group surveyed close to 250 agencies and marketers and found 20% planned to add full-time staff in the next three months, while 2% expected reductions. Intent to hire was up 5% (from 15%) from the previous study conducted in December, said Lara Dodo, Canadian regional vice-president of The Creative Group.
“Agencies are feeling a lot more positive about the economic conditions, so budgets are opening up,” said Dodo. “Everyone is very interested in boosting their online presence and how they get their message out, and that’s fueling a lot of the demand.”
Of those who said they plan to staff up, 25% are looking to web design and production hires, 21% to print design and production, and 18% need to increase social media employees. Dodo said she expects these positions to range from entry to senior levels.
“Social media strategy is such a big bucket,” she said. “For one organization it may be managing online dialogue, for another one it could be leading and designing their whole digital strategy and online perspective.”
Dodo said firms are seeking experienced professionals with a combination of front- and back-end development skills such as HTML, CSS and commerce development, as well as a great eye for design.
Other positions that look to show increases in hiring are public relations (16%), creative and art direction (16%), interactive media, (15%), media services (15%), brand/product management (14%), marketing research (11%) and copywriting (8%).
