Australia’s media industry has recorded another quarterly decline in hiring, with job activity falling 3.8 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of 2026, according to new data from Mercury Talent.
The January – March quarter saw 1,045 media job ads posted, marking a rebound from the seasonal slowdown at the end of 2025 but still trailing the mid-year peak and extending a run of year-on-year declines across the past four quarters.
The figures show traditional commercial roles are shrinking, while demand for technology and operational talent continues to grow – signalling a structural reset in how media companies are building teams.
“We’re yet to see the impacts of recent large acquisitions, but my feeling is that the media industry has stopped getting smaller,” said Justin Randles. “The latest decline in hiring activity is more a reflection of reduced movement in the job market overall. People are less willing to take the risk of changing jobs.”
Sales and client service roles were the biggest drag on hiring, dropping 14.9 per cent year-on-year to 370 positions.
The decline was particularly acute in TV and streaming, where sales hiring plunged more than 50 per cent, alongside a 31 per cent fall in programmatic roles.
By contrast, product and operations emerged as the clear growth area, rising 6.3 per cent year-on-year to 336 roles and now accounting for nearly a third of all hiring — up sharply from just under a quarter two years ago. The shift was evident across multiple sectors, from broadcasting to retail media and audio.
Content hiring also continued its downward trajectory, falling 10.2 per cent and extending a two-year slide. Its share of total hiring has dropped from almost 29 per cent in early 2024 to just 19 per cent today — a trend likely tied to the growing influence of AI and evolving editorial strategies.
At a sector level, publishing remained the largest employer, followed by TV/streaming, radio/podcasts and B2B media and events. Radio and podcasting stood out as a rare growth pocket, with hiring up 19 per cent over the past six months, driven by organisations including Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ARN Media and Southern Cross Austereo.
Among individual companies, Domain nearly tripled its hiring year-on-year, while Google significantly expanded product and operations recruitment. TikTok, however, continued to scale back, with hiring down from 39 roles a year ago to 25.
The data also suggests a shift in seniority, with fewer mid-level roles and a slight uptick in director and executive hiring — pointing to companies prioritising experience as they navigate a changing media landscape.
