Latest figures increase digital skills gap fears as marketers struggle to fill jobs
The latest fears of a marketing and media skills gap has emerged following the release of figures from The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) which showed permanent work placements have dropped by 21 per cent year-on-year despite a rise in marketing and media job openings of two per cent.
Concern: Marketers are struggling to fill roles permanently
The study revealed that businesses were turning to temporary workers to plug the gap and said the trend could be explained by a "mismanagement of expectations" within companies developing digital marketing strategies.
Research carried out by OnePoll last month indicated British workers felt they were lacking in tech and digital skills, while Google, Code Academy and Mozilla recently backed moves to tackle an impending talent crisis.
Founder of Only Marketing Jobs, Simon Lewis, said: "The latest APSCo monthly hiring trends report showing a decline in marketing and media placements is not a surprise. Quite simply workers have been unable to meet the demands of our increasingly digital world, resulting in a mismanagement of expectations within hiring organisations looking to quickly develop their digital marketing strategy.
"The skills shortage has increased the so-called ‘war for talent’, meaning the finite number of experienced digital professionals are snapped up quickly, while the rest are embroiled in an elongated beauty-pageant-style round of interviews, hoping to convince the judges that their skills are up to scratch.
"Additionally, technology and associated analytics – formally the exclusive domain of IT – is muddying the waters as companies seek the ‘all-in-one’ marketing and technologically capable employee," he added.
The data also showed a drop in permanent IT recruitment but a rise in temporary placements.