Unfilled positions are costly for many companies: workflows become slower, the workload of existing employees increases, and sales dwindle. And that not only applies to healthcare and IT – the communications industry is also increasingly feeling the effects. An online survey conducted by Civey on behalf of DMEXCO in March 2022 found that nearly half the surveyed skilled professionals from the communications, PR, media, and marketing sectors (48 percent) had job vacancies in their company. Furthermore, recruiting qualified employees is taking longer and longer: 29 percent of respondents said that it is taking an average of three to six months to fill an advertised vacancy. 7 percent are needing more than half a year, and 6 percent of companies can no longer fill vacant positions at all. Only 22 percent find suitable personnel within two months.
To win over (and retain) employees, many companies are now offering a whole range of additional benefits: alongside a company pension plan (39 percent), working from home and mobile working options are especially being used as incentives (31 percent). Continuing education and training funding (25 percent) and transportation subsidies (public transit, company car or bicycle) are also being offered more frequently. 6 percent of the companies provide bonus cards with tax-free contributions, and 9 percent give discounts for fitness centers.
Wide range of additional benefits for employees
Jan Garnefeld, Director of Sales & Operations at DMEXCO: “Many companies still tend to use traditional methods for their recruitment activities. Although job ads are becoming more creative, especially on social media, there is a growing need to approach potential employees more directly. A highlight event like DMEXCO offers the ideal framework for doing that in person. But it doesn’t just start there: exhibitors and partners can already advertise job vacancies on our platform.”
Professor Dominik Matyka, Chief Advisor of DMEXCO: “The survey shows that finding new skilled professionals and retaining existing personnel is becoming an increasingly important task when it comes to ensuring our industry’s continued growth. The results demonstrate that companies are already implementing a vast array of measures. However, they won’t really cut it. Demographic developments and competition with other industries remain a major challenge. If our industry wants to keep pace, it needs to rethink how it recruits, be more open to candidates from different fields, and offer more appealing incentives to employees.”
Image material for DMEXCO is available online at https://go.dmexco.com/pressdownloads-dmexco.
