As recruiters, we expect to see specific hiring trends during economic downturns. Historically, we anticipate increases in contract/freelance staffing because corporations, which are in the midst of hiring freezes, have laid-off large numbers of marketing and communications pros. With a skeleton staff and the same daunting workload, the inevitable outcome is that organizations bring on contract/freelance staff to fill the gap.
Generally the most common need is for mid-level talent with 5-10 years of experience. The senior level positions are less often requested because strategies have been set and companies want simply to execute on plans. But 2009 has not played by the standard rules.
While we are seeing an increase in contract/freelance hires, we’ve been surprised that another trend has emerged: our staff is recruiting for a significant number of senior and executive level marketing openings across a broad range of industries.
Most recently, we’ve recruited for a CMOs, VPs and Directors of Marketing across a wide variety of industries including retail, telecom, health and beauty and tech.
The question: Why the change in upper management at this time?
Are these executive level openings a result of the company taking their business in a different direction, and, thus, needing a new leader with fresh thinking? Perhaps this recession has provided management with the opportunity to clean house and let go of senior marketing staff that have not been able to make a measurable impact. It may be a case of organizational growth despite this challenging environment. Some suggest it may be a case of attrition. Or perhaps it is simply an anomaly that we alone are experiencing within our recruitment practice.
To find the answers or at least further the conversation, we are reaching out to our community of Marketing Professionals. As marketers on the front lines, we’re interested in hearing directly from you. Click here to take a five question survey about hiring trends within your organization. We’ll be sharing the findings with our readers, and individual responses will remain confidential. And feel free to comment on the subject here. We value your insight, your questions and your feedback.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’d like to read of the trends you discover.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Actually, this trend makes a lot of sense.
When business is good — when sales are up and companies are growing — the need for good strategic marketing is arguably at its lowest. During this time smart companies invest in operations and divest in sales and marketing. But somewhat not surprisingly the majority of companies, because they’re flush with cash, invest across the board and hire more marketing talent too. That’s understandable, but it doesn’t always make a lot of business sense.
On the flip side, when business is bad that’s when hiring good strategic marketing makes the MOST sense. If demand for your products/services are down that’s when you need marketing the most! But as most of us know, sales and marketing is often the first places a CEO or COO looks to cut, largely because the business doesn’t see or appreciate the true value of strategic marketing, and that’s possibly because their current marketing executives aren’t very good.
So it’s encouraging to see that you are seeing an uptick in strategic marketing hires. It actually makes a lot of sense. But the most encouraging aspect of this trend is that it may reflect a greater appreciation for the value of strategic marketing from the CEO/COO.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Is this in part the product of the ‘gray drain’ which was much talked about in late 07 & early 08? As I recall, a study by the accounting firm, Ernst & Young said; it’s irrefutable and irreversible that there will be a major loss of highly skilled and extremely knowledgeable middle/upper management ‘Baby Boomers’ in the next few years as they retire in huge numbers. This turnover will no doubt hurt the bottom line of most companies unless they plan for it now. Nearly 50% of the 1000 companies surveyed said they need to do far more than they are currently doing to avoid serious financial and productivity issues caused by this turnover.
Marketing CMOs, VPs & Directors would certainly be a part of this.