The marketing industry is hiring again. The question is whether it remembers how to attract the people it actually needs.

After two years of redundancies, budget freezes, and hiring pauses, marketing teams across the board are cautiously rebuilding. Research from Robert Half shows 81% of marketing and creative leaders feel confident about their organisation’s outlook for 2026, with continued investment in brand, digital engagement and performance-driven initiatives fuelling that optimism. Good news. Except the market they are hiring into looks nothing like the one they left.

The talent is there. The match is not

Despite fluctuations in hiring demand, many organisations report persistent difficulties filling roles with qualified candidates, a structural issue rather than a temporary hiring cycle. More applicants do not mean better applicants. The skills gap has widened precisely during the years teams were shrinking. AI literacy, performance analytics, automation, and marketing leaders are now balancing brand-building with growing expectations around analytics, adaptability and cross-functional collaboration, and the talent pool has not kept pace.

Forty-five per cent of employers say they struggle to find qualified candidates. In marketing, that number feels low.

The job description is the first problem

Most marketing hiring fails before a single CV arrives. Organisations write roles for the person they lost rather than the team they need to build. They list fifteen requirements for a $40,000 salary. They ask for five years of experience with tools that are three years old.

The smarter organisations are moving away from narrow criteria, specific degrees, years of experience, and local availability, and placing greater emphasis on practical skills candidates can demonstrate. They are hiring for capability and training for specifics. Everyone else is filtering out their best candidates on page one.

Employer brand is not a nice-to-have

Candidates are not passive. Eighty-eight per cent say employer branding directly influences their decision to apply. They have read your Glassdoor reviews, scrolled your LinkedIn page, and already formed an opinion before your recruiter makes contact.

Marketing teams that cannot articulate why someone would choose them over a competitor are losing the recruitment conversation before it starts. The function that exists to build brand externally is often the worst at selling itself internally as a place to grow.

The retention problem nobody is solving

Hiring is only half the challenge. The same channels used to attract candidates, social, email, content, and career sites, can reinforce to existing employees why they joined and where the organisation is headed. Most teams are not doing this. They recruit hard, on-board adequately, and then go quiet.

In a competitive labour market, candidates are increasingly looking for flexible working arrangements, career development and a strong sense of purpose. Salary matters. But it is rarely the reason good people leave. It is just the easiest number to put on a counteroffer.

What comes next

The light at the end of the tunnel is real. But marketing cannot afford to recruit the way it always has and expect different results. The industry needs sharper job briefs, honest employer brands, skills-first thinking, and a retention strategy that does not begin the moment someone hands in their notice.

The talent exists. The question is whether you are worth choosing.

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