The Australian digital advertising and ad tech industry job vacancy saw a slight uptick from 4.5 per cent in to 4.6 per cent in 2024. Yet, according to the IAB – 2024 Industry Talent Report, redundancies across the sector which reduced the population base means there are fewer available jobs compared to 2023.
There has also been a significant shift in the level of experience companies are seeking, with over three quarters of open positions targeting people with 1-5 years’ experience. This aligns with the commonly reported “juniorisation” of the advertising workforce. The most in-demand group are people with 3-5 years’ experience.
There is cautious optimism with more than six in ten companies looking to make modest increases to staffing levels, with only 11 per cent looking to slightly decrease their workforce. Further, in a shift from 2023 when a range of companies indicated they thought AI may directly reduce the number of people in their teams, this year most companies are planning for AI to improve productivity without impacting current staffing levels.
The average salary increase over the last twelve months was 3.8 per cent, down from 4.2 per cent in the previous year. However overall, the cumulative increase in digital advertising specialist salaries over the last few years has increased the cost of talent significantly and Australia remains a premium job market with higher employee costs than many other markets.
“Over the last 12 months the digital advertising industry and ad tech talent market has felt the impact of ongoing global and local layoffs, but it is encouraging to see there’s increased optimism for modest increases in staffing levels from well over half of the industry,” said Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia.
As workforces become leaner in the executive ranks, there’s been a significant shift to the hiring of more junior members of staff. Unfortunately, there has been a dip in the number of women in senior management positions, although it’s encouraging to see continued positive movement in gender representation across the wider industry particularly in product and engineering roles.
With the increase of less tenured employees who are experiencing rapid promotion, companies in the industry are looking to support and upskill staff in leadership and management skills. With the shift in composition in the workforce only 5 per cent of the digital advertising and ad tech employees are now aged over 50 years of age.”
The Report also found:
- Women holding senior management roles reduced to 34 per cent (from 38 per cent in 2023). However, we continue to see significant shifts in gender representation across the wider industry as follows:
- Female representation for commercial roles (which represent 45 per cent of industry headcount) increased from 49 per cent to 53 per cent over the last year.
- Females in product roles over the last few years has moved from 36 per cent in 2021 to 48 per cent in 2024.
- While tech and engineering roles are still dominated by male employees, there has been an increase in females from 13 per cent in 2022 to 22 per cent in 2024.
- Nearly half (48 per cent) of organisations require most staff members to be in the office three days a week.
- 22 per cent of organisations have increased their part-time staff employee numbers over the last two years.
