Michael Page has released their 2010 Marketing Salary and Employment Forecast for Australia, with the major finding being 2010 has witnessed an increase in demand for marketing professionals.

Highly-skilled marketing professionals are in demand as companies are creating employment opportunities for top talent as a way of up-skilling their teams. Roles in demand include: content managers, online marketing managers, ecommerce managers and digital marketing managers. Those with particular skills in online marketing and insights and innovation are in need, but according to the report, are proving difficult for employers to source. Demand for online roles in financial services, media/entertainment and travel and tourism industries are most prevalent. Many of the strategic marketing roles that were cut during the recession, are not expected to return to the market just yet.

When questioning salary expectations, the report acknowledges that “the last 12 months have been challenging for many marketing professionals, with many employees required to manage increased workloads without additional financial reward.” 43% of those surveyed reported that they intended to increase employee salaries by 3-4% in the next six months.

As staffing levels in marketing departments were lessened during the recession, many of these roles need to be re-established. As a result of this, 38% of companies surveyed indicated that employee numbers would increase over the next six months, with 52% of companies expecting numbers to remain stable.

Although hiring freezes are less frequent than they were 12 months ago, many companies are still being cautious about hiring. Half of the companies included in the survey reported that their staff levels have remained stable for the past six months.