U.S. media employment in December fell to a 15-year low (886,900), slammed by the slumping newspaper industry, reports Workforce.com. However, employment in advertising and marketing services broke a record in November (769,000). Marketing consulting powered that growth–marketers still invest in marketing, but they have options far beyond paid media—digital initiatives, direct marketing, promotions and events, noted the story.
Among all the ad-related job sectors, marketing consulting took the cake. Employment in that field in December reached a record 148,500, accounting for most job gains over the past year in advertising and marketing services.
Marketing consultancies over the past year added 14,500 jobs (up 10.8%), nearly matching staff cuts at newspapers (down 16,900, or 4.7%), said Workforce.com.
It’s a different picture in traditional media. Since media employment peaked in 2000, media companies have eliminated one in six jobs (167,600) to date.
Newspapers, TV and radio all cut staffing last year. The only media sectors to add jobs: magazines (up only 400 jobs) and Internet media companies (up 9,200 jobs, a 13.4% jump).
