As the economy nears full-employment, businesses will find it increasingly difficult to source skilled candidates to fill their roles. This is particularly true within the digital sector.
Our 2020 salary survey aims to give businesses an idea of the salaries they should offer to attract talented candidates. It also informs job seekers of how much they can expect to earn.
We base our annual surveys on analysis of currently available salary data, as well as our own data, industry knowledge and recruitment expertise. This year’s salary survey revealed some new trends in digital recruitment.
Salaries continued to increase across the board over the past year. This is in line with national trends, but the figures suggest growth is even more prominent in the digital industry.
Skills shortages and salary hikes can be seen in specialist areas like e-commerce, PPC, SEO and data analysis. At Prosperity Recruitment, we have started to look further afield to countries like France and the UK to fill these roles for our clients.
E-commerce in Ireland is booming with more Irish businesses selling online than anywhere else in Europe. Retailers may worry that their online growth will slow if they can’t find top-class PPC and advertising specialists. But the skills are readily available in countries where e-commerce isn’t as prominent.
Media companies who have client service roles will have to adopt a more international approach to hiring. In France, there is quite a large talent pool where you’ll find the specific skills your business needs. However, at Prosperity Recruitment, we find that many skilled candidates who want to come to Ireland for digital roles are overlooked because they are not native English speakers. With the digital skills shortage worsening, this mindset will have to change.
However, in terms of digital marketing, we predict this trend will be turned on its head completely. Since Brexit began, Enterprise Ireland has been encouraging businesses who export abroad to enter new markets and reduce dependency on the UK. We expect this will impact marketing recruitment this year as exporting businesses begin to require more and more candidates with a second language.
To deal with the skills shortage, SMEs in particular need to get creative. They need to look at the aging population and consider upskilling marketing managers who specialise in traditional advertising. New skills combined with past experience will empower businesses to find or grow talent that fits their needs.
We expect the Government’s National Digital Strategy, which is due to be released this year, will provide innovative training solutions to address skill shortages too.
Over the past three years, Brexit has posed a challenge for many businesses. Although, most people assume that it will be a soft one, from speaking to our clients we know that uncertainty has brought about cautious decision-making.
Despite reluctance to hire and invest, demand for digital skills has increased simply to meet basic needs. Salary increases have put extra pressure on SMEs who are struggling to compete with multinationals for digital talent.
Competing with large corporations is likely to become an increasing issue for Ireland’s small businesses and agencies. Attracting more multinational companies to Ireland is one of the few Brexit benefits the Government has identified.
This stands to boost the technology and digital sectors but could hurt SMEs who can’t compete with the likes of Facebook and Google for tech talent as it is.
When digital talent does leave the workforce of a global corporation, it is often to set up their own business. But these startups struggle to find talent too. In the US, talented techies are open to joining startups where they can work on exciting projects and grow their careers at a quicker rate. But in Ireland the candidates we meet are fixated on base salary, rather than opportunities to grow. This is understandable given the cost of renting in Dublin.
Looking specifically at digital marketing recruitment, performance marketers have been in extremely high demand. With Brexit uncertainty, PPC advertising and social media have been the go-to marketing tactics for many companies.
But once Brexit is finalised, a certain level of clarity should be provided to businesses which will allow marketing managers to invest in long-term strategies once again. While PPC marketers will still be in high demand, we believe more activity in brand marketing, SEO, content marketing and online PR will lead to a surge in demand for other marketing skills in the coming year.
This trend will also be driven by the fact that many businesses will choose to invest in new websites to benefit UK audiences who will now be outside the EU. This will require significant investment because duplicate content can’t be used. But it will also allow marketers to personalise content to suit each market. This is a costly prediction, but if it plays out as we expect, there will be higher demand for digital recruitment in this area.
Read on to find our salary estimates for dozens of digital jobs. We hope our research helps you in the coming year whether you’re hiring or looking for new opportunities.
-Gary Mullan, Recruitment Director at Prosperity.
