In this latest edition of From The Bureau, Sorrel Kesby, head of global commercial operations at GumGum, explains while many in the industry are wringing their hands over the “juniorisation” of the industry’s workforce, businesses should be getting on with the job of training and upskilling their staff.
The IAB’s 2024 Talent Review, in combination with the ad spend growth rate figures, has confirmed what many people in the industry are experiencing on a day-to-day basis: significant change due to technological advancements, economic pressures, and shifts in advertising spending.
A younger, less experienced workforce
One of the key findings of the review is the often reported ‘juniorisation’ of the advertising workforce. Indeed, over 75 per cent of open media roles are targeting people with 1-5 years experience, with the most in-demand group being people with 3-5 years of experience.
This is supported by the findings that senior leaders are likely to take longer to find a suitable role with a decline in senior management roles in the industry job pie and very few open roles for experienced leaders.
Technology is driving hiring decisions
Technical sales, data analysts, software engineers, ad operations, customer success managers and sales managers are seeing higher-than-average demand, demonstrating that industry knowledge and technical skills are still highly valued.
The increasing integration of AI into operations is also shaping the market. However, whilst previous Talent Reviews indicated its adoption may reduce the volume of junior hires, we’re now seeing a more measured approach, with only a couple of organisations potentially looking to reduce the volume of junior team members being onboarded over the next year with a bigger focus on AI being injected to improve productivity.
The need to do more with less
While the vacancy rate in 2024, compared to 2023, hasn’t moved markedly (4.6 per cent v 4.5 per cent), the redundancies seen across the industry in recent months means the total job base has declined which in turn means there are less roles to fill.
Whilst there’s reason for cautious optimism, with over six in ten companies hoping to slightly increase their workforce in the next six months, it remains likely that businesses will have to find a way to maintain and improve productivity with limited additional resources (and in some cases much less) for the foreseeable future.
This is because advertising spend, a critical driver of the media industry, is seeing significant shifts. While there has been strong growth in video and steady growth in search and social in FY24, general display advertising, excluding video, fell by 1.1 per cent to $2 billion, and traditional standard display formats saw a significant decline of 13.1 per cent to $558.5 million.
This decline reduces revenue support for local, Australian media outlets who are traditionally more reliant on channels such as general display and traditional display formats. As a result, these organisations have been required to follow their global counterparts in reducing their workforce in both digital content and advertising delivery teams.
Support and training will be a key driver of future success
In response to these challenges, the Talent Review outlines that media companies are already adopting new strategies for talent acquisition and retention. Diversity and inclusion have become major focal points and 82 per cent of media companies in Australia have DEI programs, policies and/or codes of conduct in place. This emphasis is crucial for fostering creativity and innovation, especially in a rapidly changing industry like media.
Flexibility and work-life balance have emerged as critical factors in attracting and retaining talent with the Talent Survey showing the vast majority of media companies in Australia are offering flexible work arrangements and 48 per cent are moving to a hybrid office and work from home mix.
However, the Talent Review paints a clear picture that a leaner and less experienced workforce will be expected to deliver even higher levels of productivity.
Consequently, organisations must get ready to provide more training, more support and more tools to ensure employees can meet expectations, avoid burnout and have the appetite to stay in the advertising industry.
This will mean a combination of upskilling, continuous learning and development, leading with purpose and workplace flexibility will be critical to talent retention and the continuous improvement of our industry.
