Many UK marketers are changing their jobs as skills shortage bites

Shortage of skills is a common problem

Researchers found that skills shortages remain widespread in marketing. Four-fifths (80%) of marketing employers say they have experienced skills shortages in the past year, with productivity cited by 40% of employers as the area most severely impacted by these shortages.

But finding to the necessary talent remains a challenge for most businesses. Hays found that nearly three-quarters (72%) of companies expect to encounter a shortage of suitable applicants.

Improving salaries has been one strategy to counter the problem. More than half of the marketers questioned said they had received a salary increase in the past year. The average increase was just over 2%, and while that may seem fairly low, people working in sectors such as digital and online marketing received increases much higher than the industry average.

Remote hiring of marketing talent is common, with 43% of employers saying they are currently hiring or plan to hire remotely, which is notably higher than the national average of only 28%. Around 90% of employers planning to hire remotely say the salaries for fully remote employees will be the same as those who are in the workplace some, or all, of the time.