MR Recruitment Bouncing Back

Market research and public relations have the brightest recruitment outlook among marketing and advertising roles in the US in the remainder of 2010, according to a survey of marketing and ad execs for The Creative Group.

The Group's Hiring Index for Marketing and Advertising Professionals asked execs in the sector if their company planned to increase or decrease their employment of full-time personnel in their area in the fourth quarter: ten per cent predicted an increase, seven percent a decrease and 83% expect no change.

The national study was developed by staffing service The Creative Group and is based on more than 500 telephone interviews: around 375 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 125 with advertising executives from agencies with 20 or more employees.

When executives were asked in which areas they plan to add staff, PR and marketing research ranked first equal, each mentioned by 12%. Social media and account services were next, mentioned by 11% each. Some 54% of those surveyed said it was challenging for their firms to find skilled professionals.

Donna Farrugia, Executive Director of The Creative Group, says market research is among the positions eliminated in the recession by many companies and being brought back now. She adds: 'Although there are still many good people looking for work, recruiting challenges are increasing for employers and likely will continue to do so as the economy rebounds.'

In terms of general confidence, 93% said they were somewhat or very confident in their firm's prospects for growth in the fourth quarter, up two points from the previous quarter and up seven points from the second-quarter forecast.

Information from the study is featured in the quarterly study The Robert Half Professional Employment Report, based on more than 4,000 telephone interviews with US execs (www.roberthalf.us/per ). The Creative Group is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA and has offices across the USA and in Canada and a web site at www.creativegroup.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.