Salary Survey 2021: Brand values and diversity commitments tested by the crisis

Confident your brand has navigated the minefield of a tricky year, and can now move forward with a shiny purpose and renewed sense of vigour? Not so fast.

According to Marketing Week’s 2021 Career and Salary Survey, companies have some work to do if they are to attract and maintain the best marketing talent as we emerge from the latest lockdown.

The upheaval of the last year has seen many marketers made redundant or furloughed, with some level of career disruption experienced by most respondents. That disruption has caused marketers to re-evaluate what they expect from their employers, some of whom have been found to be lacking.

Taking a long, hard look at their purpose, company values, diversity and inclusion policies, and internal communications may be the place to start.

When asked if their company offered enough career opportunities for people from different socio-economic/demographic backgrounds, 30.1% of the 2,453 respondents answered with a clear ‘no’.

However, the number answering ‘no’ dropped by more than half, to just 15%, among those respondents aged 55 and above. To put it bluntly, those most likely to be in positions of power within their companies appear to be the least likely to see a problem.

Among those of BAME backgrounds, the number of no answers rocketed to 44.8%, compared to 28.2% among their white peers. Male respondents were also less likely to answer no than their female counterparts (27% vs 32%).