Credit: Shawn Henry via Unsplash
More pain for media industry job seekers with hiring activity down 3.8% in the March quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the latest research from Mercury Talent.
From January to March, there were a total of 1,045 media job advertisements, 22% above the seasonal dip in October to December 2025, but 10% off the most recent peak of 1,163 advertised jobs in the July to September quarter.
The result reflects a market in transition. Traditional commercial roles are contracting while technology and operations functions are growing strongly, pointing to a structural shift in how media organisations are building their teams.
“We’re yet to see the impacts of recent large acquisitions, but my feeling is that the media industry has stopped getting smaller and that the latest decline in hiring activity is more a reflection of reduced movement in the job market overall,” said Justin Randles of Mercury Talent.
“People are less willing to take the risk of changing jobs.”
Sales and client service roles fell sharply, down 14.9% year-on-year to 370 positions - the single biggest driver of the overall decline.
The fall was not uniform across the industry.
TV/Streaming recorded a 51.6% drop in sales hiring and Programmatic fell 31%, while OOH/Retail Media held flat and Large Scale Events more than doubled its sales activity from a small base
Content roles also softened, falling 10.2% to 202 positions, continuing a two-year trend that has seen content's share of total industry hiring fall from nearly 29% in early 2024 to 19% today.
Product and operations was the clear growth story of the quarter, rising 6.3% year-on-year to 336 roles and now representing 32% of all hiring — up from 24% two years ago.
The shift was visible across multiple sectors simultaneously, with Programmatic, TV/Streaming, OOH/Retail Media and Radio/Podcast all reporting a higher proportion of product and operations roles relative to sales. MarComms hiring was essentially flat at 107 roles.
Publishing remained the largest hiring sector with 422 jobs, followed by TV/Streaming (181), Radio/Podcast (116) and B2B Media/Events (111). Radio/Podcast was a standout performer, up 19% on six months ago, led by ABC, ARN and SCA.
TV/Streaming recovered strongly from a quiet December quarter 2025, with Nine, ABC and SBS all increasing their hiring, though the sector's sales activity declined sharply.
At the individual company level, Domain nearly tripled its hiring compared to the March quarter 2025, with growth spread across sales, product/operations and executive roles — suggesting a broad strategic push rather than isolated recruitment.
Google more than doubled its product/operations. Uber Advertising and QMS each recorded significant increases from small bases, while TikTok continued a gradual hiring pullback, down from 39 roles last year to 25.
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