The number of advertised roles in March 2025 was 2 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to the latest data from media industry recruitment firm, Mercury Talent.
Job ads for production/operations positions in March were up by a whopping 38 per cent year-on-year while hiring for sales roles was up 19 per cent. Job advertising for content/editorial roles fell by 45 per cent and marketing/communications was up slightly from 35 positions to 38. The 402 advertised roles in March 2025 was 12 per cent above the 12-month average of 359.
“For the past few years we have been waiting for the media industry to find its new level and start growing from there,” said Mercury Talent director, Justin Randles. “With only a single month of year-on-year data to go on, it’s too early to confirm that the decline in media industry hiring has ended, but the latest set of numbers are heartening, particularly for sales and production/ops professionals.”
Recruitment for sales staff remained flat in the March 2025 quarter with 433 advertised roles, up 3 per cent over the 12-month average. Just under 72 per cent of sales roles were in Sydney and 86 per cent of sales roles were at junior and mid levels. The publishing sector recruited the most sales roles followed by TV broadcasters, events organisers, OOH/retail media firms, search/social, radio and programmatic. Nine, TikTok, News Corp, Are Media, Paramount, SCA, Google, Seven, Nova and Carsales hired the most number of sales professionals in the March 2025 quarter.
Content/editorial hiring for the March 2025 quarter was down 9 per cent compared to the 12-month average with the vast majority (94 per cent ) being junior or mid-level positions. Publishers accounted for 66 per cent of recruiting activity for content professionals, followed by TV/streaming companies with 22 per cent, radio broadcasters on 13 per cent and event organisers hiring 7 per cent of content roles for the quarter. Companies recruiting the most content professionals were Nine, the ABC, Are Media, News Corp, Sky News, Daily Mail, SBS, Mamamia, Momentum Media and the BBC.
For marketing & communications roles, hiring was flat in the March 2025 quarter compared to the quarterly average with 78 per cent of marcoms hiring happening in Sydney. Junior and mid-level marketers remained in demand with only 6 per cent of marcoms job ads being for senior director-level positions. Publishers hired the most marketers during the quarter followed by event organisers, TV broadcasters, radio broadcasters, search/social and programmatic firms. Nine, Are Media, News Corp, Foxtel, Live Nation and REA lead the way in marcoms recruitment.
Mercury Talent tracks media industry job ads from publishers, broadcasters, OOH, retail media, search/social, and programmatic companies for content, sales, production/operations, marketing and senior management roles in Sydney and Melbourne.
