Paltry pay rises pushing marketers into the job market

The cost of living crisis continues to wreak havoc in the marketing industry, with nearly three-fifths (56%) of professionals planning to change jobs this year – up from 46% in 2023 – with the vast majority (63%) citing concerns that their current salary does not to cover their living expenses.

That is the stark warning from the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2024 Report, which reveals marketers are still feeling the pinch due to the fact that that they received average salary increases of just 2.6% at a time when inflation hit double-figures.

While the inflation has fallen since, if anything, marketers are even more worried about making ends meet than they were last year, with the main reason given in the 2023 study being the feeling that their job was not fulfilling (35%), followed by low salary (32%) and a lack of career progression (28%).

In fact, the economic environment is expected to present the biggest challenge to employers in the year ahead (for 64%), while the rising cost of living (60%) and recruiting the right talent (53%) are not far behind.

Even so, nearly two-fifths (38%) of marketing professionals are optimistic about the wider economic climate and the potential employment opportunities it may create in the long term, on a par with the UK overall (41%); a further 37% hold a neutral view and a quarter (25%) are not optimistic.

Internal factors expected to pose the greatest challenges to organisations within the next year revolve around retaining talent (66%), the ability to manage change (53%) and company culture (43%).

But when it comes to work-life balance, it appears the message is finally hitting home, with 68% of marketers rating their experience as “good”, an increase from 61% last year; fewer than 10% of professionals have a negative view towards their work-life balance.

This may have something to do with the fact that more than three-quarters (77%) of employers now offer hybrid working to their staff, with 65% of employees saying they are currently working in this way and quarter (25%) are working fully remotely.

Moreover, three-fifths (59%) reckon they work most productively at home, while almost a third (31%) feel most productive in the office.

The study does strike a note of caution for those businesses which are demanding staff return full-time to the office as most marketers (73%) say they would not accept a role in the future that did not offer hybrid working.

This will be particularly pressing for the 70% of employers who intend to hire staff over the next year. Over half (58%) of employers plan to recruit permanent staff members, while 28% plan to recruit temporary professionals.

However, when hiring in the year ahead, 72% of employers expect to face strong competition from other employers, 70% predict a shortage of suitable applicants, and 58% anticipate applicants may have unrealistic salary expectations.

This rise in competition might explain why three-quarters of firms (77%) say they are likely to hire professionals who do not possess all the required skills, with the intention of upskilling them.

To help employees upskill, over half (53%) of marketers would prefer that their employer invested in their training, with 50% feeling time should be allocated to complete training during working hours; a further 42% would like to be granted time to attend relevant conferences, seminars or talks within working hours.

Another area which is challenging the industry is the rise of artificial intelligence, with over half (53%) of marketing employers saying their organisation is using AI tools, such as ChatGPT, which is almost double the overall UK average of just 27%.

Despite this high-level implementation of AI tech, 40% of employers feel they do not currently have access to the right skills to fully benefit from its use, while from an employee perspective, only 21% feel they have all the skills they need to maximise the capability of AI.

Over half (51%) believe they only have some of the skills they require, and 19% don’t think they have any of the right skills. However, over three-fifths (59%) say their employer is not helping them prepare for the use of AI in the workplace.

Hays UK managing director UK&I Clare Kemsley concluded: “There is disparity between employers and employees on whether they have the right skills to harness the benefits of the AI tools being rapidly adopted within the marketing profession.

“Understanding current skillsets and offering the right training to upskill staff will be crucial to capitalise on this fast-evolving technology.”