The jobs market for media and marketing professionals is tight with slower salary growth, according to Aquent's 2025 Australian Salary Guide.
The review show a complex hiring landscape shaped by economic uncertainty, evolving DEI priorities, the rise of AI and shifting remote work policies.
The guide, based on salary data from more than 5,500 professionals across marketing, design, and technology, shows a talent pool expanded by recruitment freezes and fewer job openings, redundancies and budget cuts.
“In 2025, the return-to-office mandates and rollback of remote policies have added complexity for both employers and candidates, particularly around flexibility and work-life balance," Aquent Australia managing director Monique Richards said
"While consumer spending remains constrained and budgets stay flat, forward-thinking companies will focus on strategic goals and once budgets are reinstated, talent mobility will rise.
"In this climate, offering hybrid work options will give companies a competitive edge in attracting and retaining top talent as the job market picks up.”
Salaries are increasing mostly across marketing, design, and technology, but at differing rates.
Technology roles are experiencing the most significant growth at 11.4% year-on-year, while marketing salaries show a promising 8.8%. Creative Design roles are have slower growth at 6.4%.
Salary growth year-on-year
Account Management and Strategy: 2.3%
Creative Design: 6.4%
Data and Analytics: 0.0%
Human-Centred Design: 5.1%
Marketing and Communications: 8.8%
Product, Project, and Program Management: 2.1%
Production and Studio Management: 2.9%
Web, App, and Software Development: 11.4%
Some roles include:
● CX Lead: $175,000 (Up 16.7% YOY)
● Senior Strategist: $120,000 (Down 9.4% YOY)
● Performance Marketing Specialist: $90,000 (Up 5.9% YOY)
● SEO Manager: $90,000 (Down 10% YOY)
● Head of Digital Product: $195,000 (up 8.3% YOY)
● Data Scientist: $125,000 (up 2.0% YOY)
● Digital Producer: $105,000 (up 10.5%)
● Technical Lead: $172,500 (Up 15% YOY)
● Front End Developer: 105,000 (up 6.3%)
Generative AI is changing existing roles and creating new roles
Generative AI and immersive technologies continue to redefine the future of work. As these tools become more ubiquitous, current roles are changing, and new ones are emerging.
Aquent’s 2025 Salary Guide data suggests the future-facing roles set to shape the job market are in design, engineering, and operations. These roles include:
● Machine Learning Engineer: $130,000
● AI Content Moderator/Auditor: $85,000
● XR Event Marketer: $90,000
● AR/VR Designer: $105,000.
Return-to-office mandates
The return-to-office mandates and the rollback of remote work policies added complexity for both employers and candidates, particularly around flexibility and work-life balance. This shift will impact employee retention and recruitment efforts, as many employees have become accustomed to remote or hybrid work arrangements.
On the flip side, companies that offer hybrid work options will have a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent as the job market recovers.
Offering flexible work arrangements will be a key differentiator for employers in 2025.
Gender pay gap makes incremental progress, but disparity persists
In industry verticals such as marketing, design and technology, the average pay gap has decreased from 16% to 11% year-on-year.
However, despite this positive movement, there are still inconsistencies across roles; for example, women Campaign Managers earn 19.8% more than men, whereas women SEO Managers earn 26.6% less than their male counterparts.
So, whilst progress is being made, there is still a long way to go before we achieve full pay parity.
Strategic approach to hiring
Many companies have been operating with a lean structure and have been taking a more strategic approach to team structure and roles. This suggests a shift away from aggressive hiring, with a focus on filling only essential positions.
Potential for increased talent mobility
When budgets are reinstated this year, there is an expectation that talent mobility will increase. As economic conditions improve, more individuals may seek new job opportunities, and companies will need to make more effort to attract and retain talent.
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