5 things to know about the Marketing workforce

Every industry has its quirks and variances. That’s why there’s no single ‘right answer’ when it comes to questions about retention, hiring, or other compensation-related issues. The same applies to the Marketing sector - its workforce has some specific characteristics and preferences that you should be aware of, if you’re working in HR or Operations in this industry.

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Why are these things worth knowing? Because they help you make informed decisions which can affect your business outcomes. From attracting the best talent to retaining your skilled creative workers, it’s the best way to make sure you meet all your goals.

In Marketing, employees are generally fairly young - with 48.9% aged between 18 and 35. That’s a significant detail to be aware of. Why? Because the age of your employees determines what motivates them, what perks they care about, how they interact in the workplace, and their working patterns - like tenure. 

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That last point is particularly key: studies suggest that younger employees don’t stay in the same jobs for as long. Two-fifths of employees aged 25 to 29 only stay with the same company for a maximum of two years. So the sector potentially has an in-built retention challenge to contend with.

Perhaps as a result of the young-skewing workforce, employees in the Marketing sector stay with their company for just 2.8 years on average - the lowest median tenure of the majority of industries, beating Hospitality’s average of 3 years. 

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That means two things: Marketing HR and Ops teams need to work harder with their retention efforts, but also consider the inevitability that employee turnover may naturally be a little higher. That means considering how to attract talent also becomes a priority. The good news? Attracting and retaining talent are two sides of the same coin, so the same insights can drive both strategies.

Again, this third point is related to the last two. Marketing job hires are on the rise to an extreme level, with 80,000 additional jobs in the first half of 2024. For 71% of companies, this is focused on hiring for entry-level positions - and indeed, 24,000 Marketing Manager roles were added in this period. 

The other end of the spectrum is represented too, however, with 18,000 Marketing Director roles added and 40% of employers recruiting for management roles. The two are likely related: as organisations grow, teams do too - and bigger teams need both the support of junior roles, and guidance from senior positions. And there are specific areas that are more in demand too…

When it comes to the increased recruitment drive in Marketing, it all comes down to needing to source specific skillsets. And unsurprisingly, those skillsets are creative ones - with employers competing for web design, graphic design, and digital marketing skills in particular. That demand is clear from this insight: for web designers, the average unemployment rate is a remarkably low 2.7%. 

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With a young workforce, that competition for talent is even tighter - with less experience on the table. So the whole industry is under considerable pressure to keep the talent it has, high attrition or not, and stand out in the job market.

So what do these employees really want? What will keep them at your organisation, what will convince them to join your team, and what will keep them engaged and high-performing? Well, it comes down to two key factors for the Marketing sector: compensation and flexibility. And that’s true across demographics, with men and women both prioritising these.

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On the flexibility front, there’s good news: Marketing ranked highly for remote and hybrid work benefits. Whether that’s just due to the practical ease of this sort of work being done remotely, or a sign of the sector listening to its employees isn’t clear - but it does mean employers need to step up even more in meeting employee expectations around both flexibility and pay.

It’s not just the Marketing workforce that cares about compensation. Studies suggest that it’s the biggest factor related to job satisfaction for Millennials, with other research showing this group is the most likely to leave their job - another reason to take pay’s link to employee retention seriously, given the average age of the sector. 

As you may know, the average cost of turnover is 1-2x of the leaving employee’s salary - so it’s not surprising that retention is the top priority for most organisations. It’s an expensive business, losing your top talent, and when competition is fierce in the job market then it’s better to keep the employees you already have. And compensation is going to be a major part of that.

Compensation matters in the Marketing sector. So it’s essential that HR and Operations staff take their pay review process really seriously - both in making sure they base their decisions on solid evidence, and in reacting quickly and appropriately to market shifts. That’s where Compensation IQ comes in: the platform built for faster, easier, smarter pay reviews - designed and priced for small to mid-sized companies. 

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Here’s what you’ll find in Compensation IQ:

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1. Clear insights, all in one platform: no research, analysis, or headaches needed – our product combines your HR data with industry benchmarks, mapping it for you, and giving you clear answers to all of your compensation questions.
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2. Relevant, reliable market insights: with the most comprehensive UK pay data on hand, you can get everyone on board with reliable evidence – it’s updated frequently, and relevant to industry, company size, location, and other variables.
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3. Sharing and collaboration tools: with user-specific data downloads for working offline, to easy-to-share reports and board packs, we make it easy to present your recommendations – shortening the sign-off process considerably.

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The best part? You can try the platform for free and access industry-specific insights, just by signing up for a free 7-day trial. Sign up, connect your HR platform, and make sure you’re holding onto your best creative talent.