There’s a sure-fire way to become (and remain) among the most employable candidates in marketing and advertising industries – have experience with a combination of ‘new’ and traditional, mainstream media.

That’s the bottom line from the latest annual Aquent Asia Pacific salary survey, The Aquent Orange Book, which highlights the continuing talent shortage is most deeply felt when it comes to multi-skilled candidates.

It’s a new and accelerating trend in Australia’s ongoing talent shortage, as the shift in communications spend from traditional advertising to interactive media continues.

“Companies are on the lookout for people with experience that ranges from traditional to digital to experiential marketing – these are the most sought after staff and the most scarce,” says Aquent CEO Greg Savage.

Savage says it’s because marketing companies are tapping into new forms of interactive media more than ever before. “The vast majority of traditional sales, promotional and direct marketing campaigns today incorporate some element of web, SMH or interactive content.” 

Aquent’s survey found this shift in communications spend, from traditional to experiential and digital communications, is driven by several factors. One is the pressure to supply a measurable ROI; secondly, broadband, email and high-end mobile technology have reached mainstream use in most markets; and finally, the heavy investments by companies over the past five years in customer databases, CRM systems and web content management systems.

And if this trend away from mainstream marketing continues, ambitious marketers will need to gain experience across a range of disciplines in order to remain relevant and employable in the coming years.

Significantly, the survey also found that less than a quarter of marketing departments in all Australia’s major cities experienced staff turnover below 10 per cent. Marketing departments and suppliers were turning 27 per cent of their staff over in the past year compared with 20 percent in 2004-05 and 12 per cent in 2003-04.

The highest staff turnover rates were in Brisbane and Melbourne, with 47 per cent of companies reporting more than a 20 per cent increase in annual percentage staff turnover. Adelaide is also experiencing high turnover rates at 46 per cent. 

Across most, if not all, states in Australia then, this substantial jump in staff movement in this changing marketing and communications market is an interesting challenge for employers, who need to find a way to retain staff with a broad set of skills.

“It actually dovetails perfectly with the other clear message from our research, which is companies must nurture and further train their staff to retain them. If they are not expanding their skill sets, they will look for a company that does that for them,” adds Savage.

“It is all about retention. The so-called war for talent no longer goes far enough. The real battle is internal – keeping good people and growing key staff for the future.”

And one way of keeping “good people” is by paying them more. Salaries are increasing in an effort to retain high-calibre staff.  Across all states, the majority of marketing departments predicted salary increases in the next year from six to 10 per cent. 81 per cent of corporate marketing departments in Melbourne as well as 77 per cent of departments in both Sydney and Perth expect salaries to increase.

“We found that Sydney marketers are some of the highest paid with regional marketing directors enjoying one of the highest base salaries of $200, 000. IT and Telecommuniation marketing directors also receive an average salary of $190, 000,” says Savage. 

Given the acute talent shortage, Aquent has also found a definite increase in the willingness of employers to recruit talent from outside their state by offering relocation packages and sponsorships to foreign candidates for a working visa – means that had previously been considered too difficult and complex.

More than 50 per cent of marketing companies are willing to offer a relocation package. In Perth, 56 per cent of marketing departments are open to the idea of a relocation package for an ideal candidate, with 54 per cent in Adelaide, 53 per cent in Melbourne and 48 per cent in Sydney.

Sydney is the most willing to sponsor a foreign candidate to get a working visa, with 46 per cent of corporate marketing departments and 45 per cent of marketing agencies eager to find suitable talent overseas.

The search for marketers with broader skills has also prompted some companies to poach staff from advertising agencies for their marketing department. Why? Savage says it’s because “companies think ad agency executives have broader skills than many marketers.” While not a new trend, it’s rapidly escalating as companies think beyond the square to find innovative strategies to address the talent shortage.

The survey also found that while marketing employers are scrambling to find quality skilled staff, the use of freelance, temporary and contract staff as a fast cost-effective solution remains steady. 63 per cent of marketing firms in Melbourne and 64 per cent of marketing firms in Sydney and Brisbane were found to be using freelance, temporary and contract staff.

The Australian market is currently thriving and companies are expecting a prosperous year ahead, with more than 86 per cent of Australian companies surveyed expecting revenue growth at an average of 20 per cent. But the biggest obstacle in the path of continuous growth for marketers is the widespread shortage of quality talent.

For marketers then, the pressure is on to find effective strategies to attract and retain skilled staff.

However, despite the challenges for companies, Savage also sounded a cautionary note about the current talent shortage. “It will change and the landscape will be different in a few years time. These trends are cyclical and in the not-too-distant future, there will be surplus of talent available.”

The Aquent Orange Book (previously called The Asia Pacific Salary Monitor), provides accurate salary information for hundreds of staff categories, detailed statistics on revenue growth, staff retention strategies, anticipated salary increases, and identifies employment and growth trends.

Aquent commissioned independent, Hong Kong-based research company WebDNA to conduct the research across 15 countries – seven in Asia Pacific. Overall, more than 5,000 valid responses were collected from marketing, advertising and creative industries in the region.