Demand for skilled marketing and creative professionals remains strong midway through 2025. Because of the ongoing talent squeeze and other challenging hiring trends, employers must work hard to recruit and retain top talent for both permanent and contract roles if they want to meet their goals in the months ahead.
Staying on top of hiring trends in marketing and creative allows you to target the most in-demand roles and strengthen your retention efforts. Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report offers a clear view of where competition is fiercest—and how to respond.
2025 In-Demand Marketing and Creative Roles and Hiring Trends
What does the marketing and creative hiring market look like?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, marketing and creative positions with unemployment rates trending below the May 2025 national rate of 4.2% include marketing specialists (2.4%), marketing managers (3.1%) and web and UX designers (3.8%). With a very shallow pool of talent for these roles, managers looking to hire in these areas will need to streamline their hiring process and present their brand well to attract and land skilled talent.
Top industries hiring for marketing and creative roles include professional services, manufacturing and transportation, consumer products and e-commerce, and technology.
What are the major hiring trends in marketing and creative?
Marketing and creative teams stand at a crossroads in mid-2025, where customer expectations for personalized experiences have reached new heights. Success now requires a careful balance between technological advancement and authentic human connection. Leaders in this space are grappling with limited budgets, talent shortages and the expanding role of generative AI—all while searching for professionals who possess a rare combination of creative insight, technical expertise and business acumen.
According to the Demand for Skilled Talent report, marketing and creative teams are concentrating their hiring efforts to support several critical areas: marketing automation, website and mobile applications, SEO and paid search marketing, content marketing and customer experience. These priorities demonstrate how teams are adopting smarter, tech-powered strategies without compromising the creative spark that makes brands memorable and fosters genuine connections with their audiences.
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Explore our Demand for Skilled Talent report to see which marketing and creative initiatives are fueling hiring.
Managers’ recruitment plans for the second half of 2025
A majority of marketing and creative leaders have plans to hire through the end of the year. Forty-eight percent say they intend to add new permanent roles, while 47% will focus on hiring for vacancies only. Their top drivers for hiring include a slate of new projects (63%), company growth (48%), and lack of needed skills among current team members (44%). Yet 93% admit it’s challenging to find professionals with the right mix of skills.
At the same time, 77% of these leaders plan to increase their use of contract talent, as they find an advantage in accessing these professionals’ specialized skills or experience and the flexibility to scale their workforce.
How to keep pace with marketing and creative hiring trends in 2025
In today’s competitive hiring market, attracting and retaining top marketing and creative professionals requires a mix of strategies.
Salaries that meet or beat market rates are vital, but workplace flexibility, including remote and hybrid options, is prioritized by many candidates. In the marketing and creative field, 53% of new job postings have recently been for on-site positions, 31% for hybrid and 16% for fully remote roles. Policies promoting other ways to achieve work-life balance, such as personal wellness days and parental leave, can also set you apart from other companies seeking the same talent.
Technology is another magnet. Candidates want hands-on exposure to tools that will help them be innovative and successful in their roles and grow their career. Think generative AI tools for creatives, like Midjourney for concept art and Adobe Firefly for rapid asset production, and comprehensive CRM platforms, social media tools and more for marketers. Position those projects front and center when you post roles to show applicants they’ll build future-proof skills.
Finally, streamline recruiting. Lengthy interview cycles send prized candidates to faster-moving competitors. Partnering with a specialized talent solutions firm like Robert Half can surface passive talent quickly and keep your creative pipeline flowing even when the broader economy feels uncertain.
Want to know more about hiring trends? Take a look at the Demand for Skilled Talent report.
About the Demand for Skilled Talent report
The Demand for Skilled Talent report by Robert Half is an authoritative source providing essential insights into employment trends. This report has offered a deep dive into the U.S. hiring landscape for over a decade, spotlighting challenges and strategies to attract and retain talent. It explores what employees seek in their careers, identifies common recruitment errors and suggests solutions. The report spans finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources, proving crucial for business leaders and managers.
