The jobs market has become more competitive, with the balance of power starting to shift from the agency to the individual as the advertising industry surges.
Many are under pressure, as the flow of ad dollars gushes after the pandemic year of 2020, to find good talent to meet demand.
Salaries, depressed during the economic fallout of COVID-19, have begun to rise as some roles become hard to fill.
Many are eyeing talent at competitor shops, offering more cash and benefits to encourage a move, say industry insiders.
And talent, who held onto their seats with an iron grip during the uncertainty of COVID-19, are receptive to approaches offering a pay rise.
“It’s certainly more competitive,” says Tom Stevenson, WPP AUNZ’s head of talent acquisition.
“As Australasia’s leading creative transformation company and home to many of the industry’s most admired agencies - we are working hard to attract new talent into the industry, as well as, strengthen and diversify our early talent pipelines.”
Stevenson is seeing an increase in creative, account service and developer roles.
He says demand is rising as brands work harder to engage consumers online.
This trend will continue with RMIT Online’s recent Ready, Set, Upskill report finding the country needs another 156,000 new technology workers by 2025.
“We’re also unable to sponsor people from other markets because of the closed border which has been restrictive,” says Stevenson.
“While a shortage can make things a little difficult in the short to medium term, it is also a strong indicator that our industry continues to thrive post pandemic.”
WPP is also investing in future talent. It’s NextGen Leaders program is the first of its kind and is a 10-week course open to tertiary students, recent graduates and those with 0-2 years of experience in any field.
“We believe this ongoing investment in future and emerging industry talent locally is key and will continue to deliver unique learning, growth and professional development opportunities to attract the best talent at all levels,” he says
Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain says more businesses, with the post-COVID economic recovery well underway, are investing in growth.
This is causing a rebound in advertising and that means many media companies, agencies and brands are re-building and growing teams.
“I would hesitate to call it a talent shortage, but with the media and marketing industry growing rapidly, following a tight few years, there is a high demand for skilled people,” says Frain.
“This in turn suggests that there may be pressure for salaries to increase in the short term.
“The fact is, the TV and broader digital video industry needs to rethink how we hire and nurture talent.”
He says the answer is not to target people in the same roles in other companies.
“Instead, we should be looking further than our competitors and resisting the urge to throw money at the problem by offering unsustainable wages particularly when we’re all competing with global players with deeper pockets than all of us,” he says.
“We also need to do more to bring new talent into the media sector from different industries and with different backgrounds.
“Of the last 15 hires we’ve made at Foxtel Media, none have been from a direct competitor – and I expect to see that trend continue as we re-imagine our operating model of the future.
“There are a few senior leaders in our industry that follow the same philosophy, but they are sadly the exception rather the rule.”
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