Redundancy, restructure, brand values: 5 interesting stats from Salary Survey 2021

From the level of redundancy and furlough, to changes in teams structures and corporate values being put to the test, the 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey reveals the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Career + Salary Survey interesting stats 1

One in 10 marketers have been made redundant over the past 12 months

The 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey statistics paint a grim picture of the impact Covid-19 has had on marketers’ careers. One in 10 marketers have been made redundant over the past 12 months, while 12.7% have been put on furlough.

The personal toll of the pandemic means marketers are having to make compromises about everything from progression to the hours they work. They are also, in many cases, being asked to work for less pay than in 2019.

The survey finds, for example, that 11.7% of respondents have had a promotion delayed on made unlikely as a result of the crisis. In addition, a fifth (20.3%) have been asked to take a cut in their wage or bonus package, while 7.7% of marketers have had their hours reduced, greatly impacting their earning potential.

Source: 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey

Almost 40% of marketers think redundancy and furlough will have a long-term impact on their career

Career + Salary Survey Interesting stats 2

Data suggests a sense of concern among marketers that the pandemic will have a big impact on their careers long term.

Almost a third of respondents (30.9%) believe that being made redundant or furloughed will have far-reaching consequences. This number rises to 32.9% for male marketers, who appear more concerned than their female peers (29.8%).

In terms of age group, marketers aged 55 and over were the cohort most likely to fear the impact of redundancy and furlough (38.1%). At the other end of the spectrum, respondents aged 18 to 34 were the most relaxed (26.7%) about the long-term consequences.

Source: 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey

Almost half of marketers are in restructured teams

Career + Salary Survey Interesting stats 3

In the context of the pandemic, flexibility has more often than not meant a streamlining of teams, prompted partly by budget demands and partly by the ongoing shift towards digitalisation.

Almost half of marketers (46.3%) have had their teams restructured as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, while 22.6% have seen their team merge with other departments/functions. Some 15.8% have also moved to squad based/agile working to cope at speed with the demands of the crisis.

Changes are also occurring when it comes to specialisms within the marketing function. Some 15.4% of marketers report specialisms have been added to their teams, while a further 10.6% have seen specialisms removed over the past 12 months.

Source: 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey

Nearly a third of marketers think their companies could do more to increase diversity

Career + Salary Survey Interesting stats 4There are clear differences in opinion when it comes to whether companies are doing enough to open up opportunities to those from diverse backgrounds. Overall, nearly a third of respondents feel companies are failing – but there are faultlines based on ethnicity, gender and age.

The gap between white and BAME respondents leaps out, at over 16%. But digging deeper shows a full 5% gap between the proportion of male and female respondents who think their employer has more work to do.

There is a gulf between the perceptions of those in the early stages of their careers and those with more experience. Of respondents aged over 55, just 15% felt their companies failed to offer decent career opportunities to those from different socio-economic backgrounds. That proportion more than doubles among younger respondents aged 18 to 34.

Source: 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey

Marketers question if their organisation’s values have lived up to the demands of the crisis

Career + Salary Survey Interesting stats 5Overall, companies are judged positively for the way their values have stood up to these unprecedented times. However, BAME marketers remain less impressed by the way company values are evolving to meet the demands of the Covid crisis than their white contemporaries, with a 6.2% difference between those agreeing their employer has done enough.

That’s within a whisker of the gap between large companies and SMEs, with big players judged to have performed better. The presumed agility of smaller companies seems not to have been a factor in helping them match their values to the wider world.

Source: 2021 Marketing Week Career and Salary Survey

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