The Australian digital advertising and ad tech industry has seen a slight increase in job vacancy rates, from 4.5% to 4.6% in 2024, according to the IAB 2024 Industry Talent Report. The report indicates that redundancies across the sector have resulted in fewer available jobs compared to 2023. Over three quarters of open positions are targeting individuals with 1-5 years of experience, suggesting a shift towards ‘juniorisation’ of the advertising workforce. The most in-demand group are those with 3-5 years of experience.

More than six in ten companies are planning to increase staffing levels, while only 11% are planning to decrease their workforce. Most companies are planning to utilise AI to improve productivity without impacting current staffing levels, a shift from 2023 when some companies believed AI may reduce the number of people in their teams.

The average salary increase over the last twelve months was 3.8%, down from 4.2% in the previous year. The cumulative increase in digital advertising specialist salaries over the last few years has significantly increased the cost of talent, making Australia a premium job market with higher employee costs than many other markets.

CEO of IAB Australia, Gai Le Roy commented, “Over the last 12 months the digital advertising industry and ad tech talent market has felt the impact of ongoing global and local layoffs, but it is encouraging to see there’s increased optimism for modest increases in staffing levels from well over half of the industry. As workforces become leaner in the executive ranks, there’s been a significant shift to the hiring of more junior members of staff. Unfortunately, there has been a dip in the number of women in senior management positions, although it’s encouraging to see continued positive movement in gender representation across the wider industry particularly in product and engineering roles.”

“With the increase of less tenured employees who are experiencing rapid promotion, companies in the industry are looking to support and upskill staff in leadership and management skills. With the shift in composition in the workforce only 5% of the digital advertising and ad tech employees are now aged over 50 years of age”, she continued.

The number of women in senior management positions has decreased to 34% from 38% in 2023. However, female representation for commercial roles increased from 49% to 53% over the last year. Females in product roles increased from 36% in 2021 to 48% in 2024. Tech and engineering roles are still dominated by male employees, but female representation has increased from 13% in 2022 to 22% in 2024. Nearly half (48%) of organisations have increased their part-time staff numbers over the last two years.