Client budget cuts hitting ad industry jobs market in South East Asia, claims Monster
The demand for marketing, communications and advertising professionals in South East Asia has declined this year due to client budget cuts, according to a report by online recruiter Monster.
The website’s employment index MEI, which tracks hiring activity across the region, reported an 18 per cent decline in the number of advertising and media jobs posted online in Malaysia between April 2016 and 2017 year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Singapore saw a 4 per cent decline in the advertising and media sector during the same period. The Philippines was the only market to show signs of growth with 4 per cent, according to the research.
Meanwhile for marketers, all three countries reported a decline in hiring activity – with Malaysia experiencing the greatest slump at 10 per cent year-on-year in April. In the same period, Singapore witnessed a 4 per cent drop, while the Philippines reported a 1 per cent year-on-year decline in April 2017.
The report comes following data released by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower, which suggested that the country’s jobs market is likely to endure a slow period despite the projection of 2 per cent economic growth.
At the same time, Malaysia has suffered during the last year due to the ringgit depreciation and increasing competition from markets like the Philippines and India.
“With the added pressure for firms to sustain market share, growth and boost cash flow, cost-cutting has become the name of the game,” explained Monster managing director for the Asia-Pacific region Sanjay Modi.
“Brands are on the lookout to fill critical marketing roles, while downsizing marketing teams. This means existing team members will be expected to wear multiple hats on the job, juggling different aspects of marketing, and cross-trained candidates are highly-valued when hiring.”
He added: “While much emphasis has been placed on the importance of upskilling and becoming cross-functional, to truly become well-versed in the different practices requires time and investment.
“This means greater responsibility now lies on chief marketing officers and various leadership teams, in order to make cautious evaluations on the roles that they intend to scale down and not remove a valuable function due to misjudgement.”
the bottoms about to fall out folks….and all agencies really want to focus on is saving tigers and polar bears….good luck to these muppets.
Reply@Greg
ReplyExcellent point.
Yet the scamming continues unabated as they do get paid better.
And top management and regional bosses continue to get their expat packages, contractual bonuses, expense accounts, jollies to industry talks and award shows.
So where does the cost cutting occur?
Mainly those who do the most work: Churning out the real creative work and suits who stay late to meet deadlines.
Anyone with marginal utility is promised promotions with little or no pay rises.
Anyone who underperforms gets replaced by interns or cheaper juniors.
I’m sure everyone can put a face to the above scenarios.
So why would anyone smart want to enter advertising?
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