Ghosting, benefits and increased budgets: marketing hiring trends for 2019
Despite record low US unemployment numbers, research from McKinley Marketing Partners found that 62% of marketers expect to hire for growth in 2019.
McKinley's 2019 Marketing Hiring Trends report found that while 94% of hiring managers grew their marketing teams last year, 58% plan to further increase their marketing budgets.
This increased demand for talent means 'ghosting' has moved beyond the dating world and into the workplace.
Hilary Sutton, a content marketing consultant at McKinley and one of the report's contributors, told The Drum that the prevalence of ghosting – or skipping out on something without notice – shows that for many workers the "scarcity mindset of the Great Recession is a distant memory."
Of marketers who have looked for a job this year, 60% have ghosted on the opportunity, providing little or no notice to the hiring manager.
"[Workers] are sought after, valued, and they know it," said Sutton.
Among those polled, 50% said they have exited during the interview process, 21% have left after an offer was made, and 16% have left within 30 days of starting a new job.
Every generation self-reported an uptick in ghosting, with Gen Z leading the way at 86% job-search abandonment.
"Hiring managers are sweetening the deal from the get-go. Because they know that marketers are hard to come by and might quickly jump ship if they are not 100% satisfied with an offer, they are putting their best foot forward to make solid offers and provide whatever perks a candidate values. Sometimes these perks are nontraditional, such as unlimited paid time off, flex time or company retreats," said Sutton.
The most sought after benefits are salary, time off and growth opportunities. Only 33% of respondents with master's degrees are satisfied with their salary level, while 67% of workers with a doctorate are content with their pay rate.
"We are seeing that especially in the startup culture, education – and for that matter, experience – both matter less than a perceived culture fit and those soft skills that show that someone is eager to learn and invest in a company," said Sutton, who sees a growing trend in employers tapping into workers with non-traditional career paths.
Among those surveyed, 44% said they're unable to find qualified job candidates. The chart below shows what they're looking for:
Part of that broadening search includes a look toward remote talent, as 85% of hiring managers would consider bringing in remote workers, a 21% increase from last year.
The research did not look into gender or racial parity in hiring, but it did look at ageism.
Among respondents, 67% of hiring managers believe an applicant's resume may be screened out based on the person's age.
The study polled over 325 marketing professionals in the US.