Advertising & Marketing Executives plan to increase hiring.

Demand for advertising and marketing talent is expected to remain strong in the coming year, driven in part by the need for professionals with online expertise. Sixty-one percent of advertising and marketing executives polled said their firms plan to increase staffing levels in the next 12 months, up one point from the 2006 forecast.

The survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service providing marketing, advertising, creative and web professionals on a project basis. It was conducted by an independent research firm and includes 250 responses — 125 from advertising executives with the nation’s 2,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 from senior marketing executives with the nation’s 2,000 largest companies.

“Our research suggests a continuing healthy demand for creative professionals, which is good news for job seekers,” said Dave Willmer, executive director of The Creative Group. “The picture is less rosy for hiring managers, however, since finding and keeping the best talent will likely remain a challenge in the year ahead.”

Those whose firms have increased their recruiting efforts were asked, “Which of the following recruiting tactics are you using more frequently than you did a year ago?” The top responses were placing want ads online (73 percent); networking (69 percent); and enlisting the help of staffing or recruiting firms (44 percent). (Multiple responses were permitted.)

Willmer added, “Professionals with experience creating and overseeing online marketing campaigns and materials are especially difficult to find. Firms are using multiple recruiting methods to fill positions such as e-marketing strategist, web designer and online art director.”

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