Credit: Matthew Henry via Unsplash
The Australian advertising and marketing jobs market has slowed heading into the second half of 2025, with job postings dipping, AI skills surging in demand, and structural changes all impacting the hiring landscape.
According to data from Indeed, marketing job opportunities dropped 8.3% between March and May this year compared to the same period in 2024.
Commonly recruited roles such as marketing manager, communications officer, and campaign manager saw the sharpest declines. However, there was increased demand for roles like senior digital marketer, activation manager, and senior brand manager.
Corporate communications director at Indeed, Kate Furey, said while traditional roles have pulled back, some higher-level and digitally focused positions are bucking the trend.
“A number of senior and niche positions have defied the broader trend,” Furey told AdNews.
LinkedIn data supports this, showing an active base of around 185,000 marketing professionals in Australia, with an estimated 2,000 marketing roles currently posted.
The highest concentration of talent sits in Sydney (60,000 professionals) and Melbourne (50,000), aligning with industry activity hubs.
Notably, Melbourne’s media employment saw a 1% increase in Q2 2025, while Sydney declined by 2%, reflecting the uneven regional impact of market shifts.
The most in-demand titles on LinkedIn mirror Indeed’s findings, with marketing manager, marketing specialist, and marketing coordinator leading the list.
Key skills include social media marketing, digital marketing, and marketing communications, with rapid growth in e-commerce optimisation and social media management suggesting where talent demand is headed.
Founder of Prime Mover Recruitment, Simon Hadfield, said while demand remains across core functions, some skill gaps persist.
“The UX space continues to be a little tricky,” he said.
“Unless you’re a specialist agency in this field, finding good talent for a business looking to build this specification out can be tough.”
Marketing and analytics practice manager at Aquent, Zena Nicolson, said brands are increasingly taking performance and paid media functions in-house, contributing to recent redundancies within larger agencies.
“We’ve seen brands building internal studios, which has led to layoffs in agency performance teams,” Nicolson told AdNews.
Hadfield said creative departments can also be exposed.
“Some agencies have tried combining account service with trafficking or production, with varying success,” he said.
“Creative teams, lacking the client relationship or brand depth, can be vulnerable.”
Agency consolidation is also affecting job stability.
“It’s now indie agencies that offer the most job security due to constant M&A activity within holding groups,” Nicolson said.
Hadfield agreed that structural shifts are impacting talent pressure.
“Too much consolidation increases pressure on talent, and they’ll look elsewhere,” he said.
Despite hiring softness, skill diversification remains critical.
Communication, digital marketing, management and analytical skills continue to top job descriptions, but generative AI is gaining traction fast.
Job listings referencing generative AI tripled between September 2023 and 2024.
In May, marketing ranked fourth among all sectors for generative AI mentions, behind only data analytics, software development, and scientific research.
“Marketers already know they need to understand AI and that learning needs to be ongoing,” Furey said.
“Those who can’t utilise AI could see employability heavily impacted.”
Hadfield says AI’s impact remains uneven.
“AI hasn’t played a huge role in what I do, maybe it should,” he said.
“There are probably efficiencies in process work, but creativity still needs a human at the helm.”
Candidate behaviour has shifted too.
Job mobility is below pre-pandemic levels, as workers prioritise stability amid a shaky macroeconomic outlook.
Despite improved advertising spend data, the broader media and marketing sector has yet to reflect that momentum in hiring.
Recruitment firm Mercury Talent noted that the media jobs market remained flat in the June quarter year-on-year, with declines in traditional media segments such as TV (-8%), radio/podcasting (-49%) and publishing (-24%) offset by growth in events (+5%) and social/search media platforms (+31%).
Nicolson said many candidates are now “ready for a change,” but still deliberate about making the right move.
Hadfield also said sentiment is steady.
“If you’re confident and good at what you do, you’ll make the right choice at the right time,” he said.
There is some evidence that the “juniorisation” trend may be easing, with senior-level recruitment in the media and marketing sector up 17% in the June 2025 quarter, while demand for junior positions fell 6%, according to Mercury Talent.
Hybrid working remains a non-negotiable for most jobseekers.
Fully remote roles have all but disappeared, but around 30% of marketing job ads still mention hybrid or work-from-home options, compared to the national average of just 12%.
According to Nicolson, larger agencies are pushing for more in-office time, with the current standard of three days potentially shifting to four.
“The shift back to the office is well underway, and so it should be,” said Hadfield.
“Very few agencies are back to five days, but most are at three or four.”
Looking ahead, the advertising jobs market is expected to remain tight.
“All signs point to further cooling, particularly in job creation,” Furey said.
“Geopolitical and economic uncertainty is making it harder for businesses to plan, headcount included.”
Still, not all roles are equally impacted. Product/operations (+27%) and marketing/communications (+15%) functions saw growth, highlighting areas of resilience in an otherwise soft job market.
Despite the softness, Furey maintains the market remains “broadly favourable” to jobseekers, especially those who remain adaptive.
“The broader your skill base, both soft and hard, the better placed you’re going to be,” she said.
Hadfield agreed that versatility matters.
“Being a bit of a Swiss army knife is always helpful,” he said.
“You still need to know your craft, and simply being the best at what you do will always count.”
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.