Recruitment agency, Paladin has released its 2017 Paladin Salary Guide, which delves in to localized salary data, most relevant marketing trends and what’s expected of today’s creative and marketing pros. The report, which was released mid November, explained that “Gen Xers are seeing the highest job growth,” as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average annual growth rate of workers 55 and up will be 1.8 percent for 2017.
“With a constant flow of new technology, it’s more important than ever for businesses to employ adaptable marketing professionals with an array of digital skills,” the report stated. “The thing is, it’s not easy to hire these modern marketers. Today, with an improving economy, they are selective with their career paths and have leverage over employers.”
The report also highlighted the top creative and marketing jobs in 2017:
DIVERGE spoke to to Jadey Ryndak, managing director, Paladin to find out more:
Did you notice any new trends in the research that was just released?
As the world becomes increasingly digital, it’s no surprise that jobs in digital media are really gaining strength. In order to snag top digital talent, employers should expect to pay a premium – especially in today’s candidate-driven market where talent is tight. The more specialized the role, the higher the salary will need to be in order to attract and retain in-demand digital experts.
Big data and analytics continue to be an area of investment for companies. Marketers are very concerned with data-driven solutions, and employers are willing to compete heavily for the relatively narrow pool of talent with proven expertise in unlocking trends and insights that can inform business decisions.
Video is an area we are watching closely. It continues to emerge as an important content tool. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, video editor and camera operator jobs are predicted to grow 11 percent from 2014-2024, which is faster than average for all occupations.
Is there more of pay equality in gender?
While our data doesn’t break down salaries by gender, we are observing continued progress in pay equality. For example, Massachusetts recently passed groundbreaking legislation geared toward closing the gender pay gap, and many large brands have committed to salary transparency. Outside of salary, we’re seeing a great deal of career advancement opportunities for women in marketing, communications and advertising fields, and there’s a steady trend of women branching out to start their own consultancy businesses. On top of that, while not yet the norm, more employers have explicitly discussed their desire to diversify their teams when engaging Paladin in talent searches.
However, there are still gains to be made. Large conglomerates are in the public eye and have taken a hard look at themselves, making them more sensitive to salary assignment, but there are still some companies that are either not aware there’s a need or not willing to make pay equality a priority. Meanwhile, agencies may be lagging behind in this area. They’re typically known to be more progressive than their corporate counterparts, and as a result, they may not realize they, too, should make a conscious effort to address salary discrepancies. In order to continue moving forward, employers need to re-evaluate what they’re offering current employees and new hires, and they need to make sure they have a solid rationale for variations in pay.
How are the report changed from last year?
For this year’s report, we focused a great deal of detail around titles, uncoupling some from last year to create separate titles, and also expanding our titles in emerging areas, including digital and video roles. We really honed in on every position and its corresponding salary average to ensure that the guide provides a true reflection of the market and where it’s headed.
Future forecasts?
Titles: We anticipate titles will continue to evolve in 2017. New tools and tactics are influencing what we call things and what responsibilities come with each role, which can ultimately affect the salaries for those roles.
Analytics: In addition, as analytical positions become increasingly prominent within organizations, we anticipate those salaries will follow suit. We also expect that general marketers with an understanding of analytics will be top job candidates in the coming year and that employers will compensate them accordingly in order to attract and retain them.
Video: The incorporation of video is important to every company. Brands want to go viral and need internal staff who can quickly turnaround a compelling video on timely topics before they’re yesterday’s news. In addition, videos are being used more strategically for both client conversations and internal engagement, whether it’s a product demonstration or a company announcement from the CEO. That’s why we anticipate employers will increase their investment in video resources and may choose to forego outsourcing as much as was done in the past.
Internal Comms: We’ve always seen a need for internal communications, but lately we’re really seeing an uptick in hiring for those positions. When economies go through major change – such as a presidential election – companies have to adapt to new policies and make strategic business decisions. This requires a lot of communication in order to manage and facilitate the sharing of information throughout a company. In 2017, and especially over the next few months, we expect internal communicators to be in high demand and that they’ll receive more attention from the top leaders of a company, whereas in the past they might have played a more behind-the-scenes role.
Risk-Averse Hiring: Last, we’re seeing more companies remain risk-averse in their hiring decisions. Employers are looking for a new hire with very specific skills and industry experience to start producing and making an impact immediately. Sometimes this scenario means a lateral move for job applicants and can be less attractive. In the past, companies were often interested in infusing their workforce with new and innovative people who had alternative backgrounds with the goal of eventually bringing a completely fresh perspective to an industry or organization. Now, there’s as sense of urgency to lock in talent with highly-relevant experience. The competition for this talent could likely drive up salaries amongst competing companies.
