2025 Marketing job trends: what managers are looking for
What’s on the horizon for Canadian marketing and creative leaders in the second half of 2025?
60 per cent are hiring for new permanent rolesAn additional 34 per cent are focused on filling vacated permanent positions84 per cent report facing challenges in finding skilled talent
Strategic priorities for 2025
For the second half of 2025, marketing and creative leaders are setting their sights on the below areas.
Top priorities for permanent staff:
Customer experience
Content marketing
Marketing automation
Top priorities for contract staff:
AI and machine learning
Content marketing
Website and mobile applications
Contract talent trends in marketing and creative
Reflecting a key marketing and creative employment trend, three quarters – 76 per cent – of managers will hire more contract professionals in the second half of 2025.
This strategic shift is driven by the need for specific expertise in areas essential to staying competitive in today's fast-paced market. It also provides the flexibility to quickly adjust to market trends and project needs. Additionally, there's a growing emphasis on harnessing skills in marketing automation, highlighting the industry's focus on targeted outreach in the digital era.
According to marketing and creative managers, the top benefits of engaging contract talent include:
Access to specialized skills or expertise Flexibility in scaling their workforceCost savings compared to permanent hiresFaster staffing for critical roles
Data methodology
The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives, hiring managers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.
Over 420,000 new positions from more than 5,400 unique independent job boards and company websites provided by TextKernel are represented in our analysis of in-demand roles, including 6,300-plus placements from Robert Half. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.
