Retail media and out of home businesses, as well as those behind large-scale events, are pacing well ahead of the rest of the media industry, according to new research looking at Q2 recruitment rates.
Recruitment activity in the large scale events sector surged 139 per cent year-on-year to 136 roles.
The Rugby World Cup, Netball World Cup, Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia all drove significant hiring activity across both cities, reflecting the concentration of major sporting and entertainment events in the 2026 calendar.
Out of home and retail media was the next strongest sector, up 54 per cent during the quarter year-on-year to 108 roles, led by Cartology, JCDecaux and QMS.
The B2B media/events sector also grew solidly, up 24 per cent year-on-year.
“While any increase in hiring activity is welcome, we remain unconvinced that this is the start of a hiring spree in the media and events industry,” said Justin Randles, director of Mercury Talent, the firm behind the research.
“Recruitment activity has gone up and down over the past three years, while the long-term trend has been a decline — it’s too early to start popping champagne corks.”
There was a significant divergence between Sydney and Melbourne for the June quarter. Sydney recorded 751 roles, up just 2.3 per cent year-on-year and down 5.8 per cent on the previous quarter.
Melbourne recorded 316 roles — up 20.2 per cent year-on-year and up 12.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter — its strongest quarterly result in three years.
Melbourne accounted for 31 per cent of all media industry recruitment activity in the June quarter, up from 27 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the TV/streaming sector recorded the steepest decline of any sector, down 28 per cent year-on-year to 126 roles — a fall driven by reduced recruitment activity at Nine, Paramount, Sky News and the international streamers.
Programmatic fell 24 per cent and search/social eased 11 per cent, though Google hiring activity continued to grow within that sector.
Recruitment activity for marketing & communications roles was the strongest-growing job function in both cities — up 33 per cent in Sydney and 44 per cent in Melbourne.
Product & operations continued its sustained growth trajectory, up 9 per cent in Sydney and 17 per cent in Melbourne.
Content recruitment activity declined 11 per cent in Sydney but grew 57 per cent in Melbourne year-on-year, driven largely by B2B media/events and large scale events organisations building editorial and content capability outside the traditional publishing sector.
Hiring for sales and client service roles was essentially flat across both cities.
Melbourne recorded growth across all seniority levels, with junior-level roles up 23 per cent and mid-level roles up 17 per cent.
Sydney’s seniority mix was more subdued — junior-level hiring eased slightly while mid- and senior-level recruitment grew modestly.
Senior-level recruitment grew 12 per cent in Sydney, suggesting ongoing senior leadership investment despite the softer overall market.
Domain was the quarter’s standout employer in Sydney, growing from 4 to 31 roles — a sevenfold increase reflecting a broad-based hiring push across sales, product and marketing functions.
SBS and Foxtel also grew strongly in Sydney, while News Corp, Nine and Are Media each pulled back.
In Melbourne, Tennis Australia led growth with 21 roles, followed by new entrants Firmable and Fever. Mamamia recorded the sharpest decline in Sydney, falling from 16 to just 1 role during the quarter.
