Marketing hiring grew in the first quarter—behind salary and job trends

Marketing industry hiring surged in the first quarter, led in part by performance marketing roles, but rising economic uncertainty could slow the labor market down in coming months, according to a new report. Total active job listings reached 90,951, a 9.1% increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, while new job postings jumped 13.3%, according to executive Search firm Taligence. The firm, in collaboration with Aspen Technology Labs, analyzes job listings across client-side, full-time marketing roles to determine shifting hiring and salary patterns. A total of 22,792 employers posted job openings in the first quarter. Senior marketing roles account for a lot of the surge, growing 15.9% compared with the previous quarter and 17.6% year-over-year, led by group director, senior director, and VP-level roles. Companies hired 44 chief marketing officers in March, slightly up from 42 in February, according to the separate monthly Ad Age-Taligence CMO Moves report published earlier this week. Across all marketing disciplines, those related to growth marketing—which typically involves performance marketing jobs aimed at lower-funnel activities—grew the most, with job listings up 19.3% year-over-year, followed by media (18.9%) and product marketing (16.7%). Hiring for PR/communications roles fell 7.3%, while brand marketing jobs dropped 3.7%. The surge in performance marketing hiring indicates that companies continue to be focused on transactional revenue gains. “Businesses are just very bottom-line focused,” said Michael Wright, managing partner at Taligence. One red flag for job seekers: The average job posting duration increased to 31 days in the first quarter, up three days from the fourth quarter of 2024. “This trend may signal more cautious decision-making by employers amid ongoing economic volatility,” according to Taligence. “The next quarter will be critical in revealing the true resilience and direction of the market,” Wright said, pointing to “growing concerns around recession and stagflation.” Salary guide—how to succeed in B2B marketing But overall, marketing hiring continues to outpace agency-side hiring, as brands look to beef up in-house capabilities, including those related to media, a trend Ad Age recently documented. “Economic uncertainty, tighter client budgets and ongoing pressure on agency margins have led to fewer open roles, particularly in mid-to-senior-level positions,” Tony Stanol, president of Global Recruiters of Sarasota,” told Ad Age last month. On the marketer side, remote job listings in the fourth quarter held steady at 13.7% of all roles, “with hybrid expectations showing signs of plateauing,” according to Taligence. But salary transparency is rising, with nearly 50% of listings now including salary ranges, up 11.6 percentage points year-over-year. Using posted salaries, Taligence uncovered some trends: Job listings related to partner and channel marketing saw the swiftest gains in pay, with the median salary up 16.2% to $130,000. Field marketing job listing salaries were flat, while digital marketing salaries fell by 1.2%.

Marketing hiring grew in the first quarter—behind salary and job trends

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