BERNHART ASSOCIATES’ Q4 HIRING SURVEY RELEASED:
MARKETERS’ EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK WEAKENS
Companies report less
hiring ahead, hiring freezes rise
Written by Jerry Bernhart
Written by Jerry Bernhart
Owatonna, MN, September 26, 2012—Digital and direct marketers hoping
for a big rebound in hiring will have to wait until at least next year,
according to Bernhart Associates’ Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Hiring
Report for the fourth quarter of 2012.
"In terms of job creation
we're only a few points ahead of a year ago," said Jerry Bernhart, leading
direct and digital marketing recruiter and principal of Bernhart Associates
Executive Search, LLC, which conducts the widely tracked quarterly hiring
survey. “Much like the overall US economy, our employment indicators have
remained within a narrow range for the past year and a half. We'd like
to see better numbers, but for lower to mid-level digital and direct marketing
job seekers there is plenty of activity out there".
The following are key findings from
Bernhart Associates’ quarter-four (Q4) survey:
•
46% of companies responding to the
survey said they plan to add to staff in the current quarter, down from
50% in the Spring. One year ago the index stood at 40%.
•
21% of respondents currently have a
hiring freeze, up from 13% during the spring quarter.
•
The percentage of companies
planning layoffs in Q4 increased slightly to 5%, compared with 4% in the second
quarter.
•
Agencies are leading the way in new
hiring, with 52% reporting plans to add to staff before the end of the year.
•
After trailing BtoB for most of the
year, BtoC marketers are now running even in all of the major indicators
including hiring plans, expected layoffs and current hiring freezes.
Bernhart said agency hiring has
been running strong all year and is picking up steam heading into the final
quarter.
"Most of the calls we're
getting are from agencies, " said Bernhart, who added that many agency
openings are taking much longer to fill compared with a year ago. Bernhart
noted that the problem is especially acute for fast-growing digital agencies
located in smaller markets.
When asked what positions will be
in greatest need during the coming quarter, employers listed analytic-related
jobs on top, followed by marketing, web designers, account management and
sales.
"Some of the more specialized
positions mentioned included tablet developer, a full-time blogger, and a
mobile experience specialist", Bernhart added.
"We're also seeing
something of a bifurcated job market when it comes to experience. Demand
at the executive level is being far surpassed by openings for more junior level
talent, and that gap has been widening in recent quarters."
Bernhart shared these other
empirical observations:
•
"We're starting to hear the word 'desperate' from employers more often,
particularly in the areas of web analytics and creative. In some cases,
that is resulting in offers to bump salary as much as 15-20%."
• "Counter-offers are on the
rise. No surprise given some of the shortages mentioned above."
• "While representing a small
minority of job-seekers, we're fielding more calls from individuals who have
decided to quit before finding something better. This trend is a sign of
growing confidence in the digital and direct marketing labor market."
• "Most executive recruiters
are busy. A good sign, because we're often the hiring solution of last
resort."
• "Job openings are being
posted on multiple social networks, underlining the importance of using social
media in a job search.
Not surprisingly LinkedIn takes the
lead, but don't forget Twitter."
• "I would estimate that the
overall unemployment rate for digital and direct marketing, if we could
calculate and track such a number, would be at least a couple of points below
the jobless rate for the entire US economy. We're in a good space."
Bernhart Associates’ Q4 hiring
survey was emailed on September 13 and 19 to more than 15,000 senior
executives, hiring managers, human resource officials, and other key
participants in online and offline direct marketing. A total of 450
organizations responded to the nationally followed hiring-trends survey, which
is now in its thirteenth year.
According to the Direct Marketing
Association (DMA), in 2011, marketers—commercial and nonprofit—spent $163
billion on direct marketing, which accounts for 52.1% of all ad expenditures in
the US. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures
generated approximately $1.96 trillion in incremental sales. In 2011, direct
marketing accounted for 8.7% of total US gross domestic product. Also last
year, there were 1.3 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their
collective sales efforts directly supported 7.9 million other jobs, accounting
for a total of 9.2 million US jobs.
Results of past surveys can be
found in the DMA’s annual Statistical Fact Book and on Bernhart Associates'
website.
Companies interested in
participating in the Bernhart Associates’ Quarterly Digital and Direct
Marketing Hiring Report should send an email to survey@bernhart.com with
“Opt-In” in the subject line, or they can sign up directly on the front page of
the digital and direct marketing recruiting firm’s website.
Visit our website at www.bernhart.com
jerry.bernhart@gmail.com Google
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