Media job market subdued, juniorisation continues and senior roles thin

Employers in the media sector are spoiled for choice; more candidates than jobs.

But in a subdued market some skills are in high demand, according to Mercury Talent, a boutique recruitment firm, in its report on hiring trends in Sydney and Melbourne for the seven months to September. 

Sales experience is valued but those looking for senior roles are finding the opportunities slim with more jobs for those early in their career, the juniors.

"The media jobs market remains challenging for jobseekers, particularly for those at a senior level," said Justin Randles, director, Mercury Talent.

"When some of the industry's largest employers are putting 70% of their recruitment efforts into hiring junior and entry-level staff, we know we have a problem.

"On the bright side, employers are spoilt for choice - I can't remember a time when so much high calibre talent was available."

The report reveals that recruitment activity remained steady, with Sydney experiencing monthly fluctuations between 238 and 348 advertised roles.

Melbourne’s job market remained stable, with hiring volumes between 83 and 117 roles per month.

The analysis shows that 40% of all advertised positions were in sales, followed by production/operations roles (26%) and content/editorial roles (24%).

The ABC, SBS and News Corp were major recruiters for editorial positions. Nine, TikTok and Google led sales recruitment efforts. 

The top recruiters in Sydney included News Corp (147 jobs), Nine (122 jobs), and ABC (108 jobs). Melbourne’s biggest were REA (58 jobs) and Nine (32 jobs). 

The report showed a prevalence of junior roles, with 52% of advertised jobs aimed at entry-level candidates. 

Only 8% of positions were for director-level, raising questions about the industry's shifting workforce dynamics. 

The numbers confirm the latest IAB report showing the industry shifting to a more junior staff base, sometimes called juniorisation, as mid level to seniors lose their jobs and new roles remain scarce. 

Companies such as News Corp and Nova led the charge in recruiting senior talent. Seven Network, Foxtel and Nine focused heavily on junior positions. 

A standout finding was TikTok’s ongoing challenge to fill key roles, with positions such as "Client Solutions Manager Finance" and the "TikTok LIVE Creator Manager" being re-advertised over several months. 

Mercury Talent said this raises questions about whether TikTok is struggling to find suitable candidates for these positions.

Among media sectors, publishers were the largest employers, accounting for 42% of the total roles, followed by TV broadcasters (17%) and radio (12%).

Key employers in the publishing sector include News Corp, Nine and Are Media. oOh! was a standout in the OOH/retail media space. The ABC led TV broadcaster recruitment efforts.

In demand skills included sales, with 40% of advertised content, sales, product, marketing and senior management roles for salespeople followed by production/product/operations roles (26%), content/editorial (24%) and marketing/communications (10%). CEOs/MDs and GMs accounted for less than 1%.

The ABC, SBS, News Corp, Are Media and Nine were the most active recruiters for content/editorial staff.

Nine, TikTok, Google, News Corp and Cartology were the top recruiters for sales roles

For marketing/communications roles, News Corp, the ABC, Foxtel, Live Nation and REA were the biggest recruiters.

News Corp, TikTok, Nine, Foxtel and oOh! were the biggest recruiters for production/product/operations staff.