Current Hiring and Staffing Trends in the Market Research Industry

Based upon decades of experience helping market research professionals advance their careers, Reeve & Associates would like to periodically share our perspective on the job market.

Q1, 2012

2012: Number of Career Opportunities

• The number of career opportunities will be consistent with 2011.
• Hiring remains to fill attrition-led vacancies and alleviate workload rather than support new initiatives.
• Expect greater hiring by Suppliers compared to Corporate research departments.
• It will be easier for those currently employed (compared to students and those searching for work) to land a new job.

2012: Skills in Demand

• Employers seek experienced researchers but are willing to trade fewer years of experience to attract a larger talent pool and pay lower salaries.
• Expect an increasing focus upon measuring digital behaviors, activity, and media consumption.
• There is a growing need for data aggregation and large dataset analysis skills.
• Of course, there is still the need for traditional researchers -- research directors, analysts, and project managers.

2012: Hiring Industries

• Sectors hiring researchers at "elevated" levels in 2012 will include:
  • Advertising
  • Entertainment
  • Financial Services
  • Technology
• Other sectors such as CPG continue to hire at traditional levels.

2012: Compensation

• Employers will continue their efforts to manage down salaries compensating with signing bonuses.
• We expect 3 out of 4 offers will be rejected by actively working MR professionals.
• Salary increases for those securing new jobs will range between 15% and 20%; otherwise annual increases will range from 0% to 3%.

Prior Industry Updates

Below are previous summaries reflecting our perspective of the market research job market.

• Q1, 2011
• Q3, 2010
• Q2, 2010
• Q1, 2010

For more frequent staffing insights within the market research industry, please feel free to connect on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/philreeve) follow us on our new Twitter account at http://twitter.com/reevejobs.

You can also view the ReeveJobs Channel on YouTube as well.

During the first quarter of 2011, we expect the pace of hiring in the first half of 2011 to dramatically accelerate. Employers will seek to fill jobs that have been vacant for months -- or even years. Weary MR teams need some new blood to handle expanding workload and to revitalize their departments.

We clearly see the economy stabilizing resulting in growing confidence for the employer and the candidate.

To help hiring managers and candidates, we conducted a survey exclusively among market research professionals. We believe the results are critically important to understand the current status of the job market for MR professionals.

Please take a minute to view our Q1 Outlook video. We're confident the survey results will help everyone looking to staff MR professionals.

In the third quarter of 2010 employers appeared ready to hire as the economy continued to stabilize and many firms appeared “motivated” to fill their open positions. However, the same game often played out. Many employers were unwilling to pay market prices for research talent—continuing to insist on lower salaries resulting in many unstaffed positions.

There is a growing list of employers who have regretted this approach as quality candidates refused to leave their current job, or accepted offers reflecting true market salaries. In an effort to meet their budget, some employers hired less experienced researchers only later to express some regret with their own hiring decision.

Based upon an increase in the number of job ads and calls we have received for recruiting assistance, we expect more companies will attempt to hire in Q4. However, it remains unclear if hiring managers are willing to pay what it appropriately takes to staff an experienced research professional. We believe the battle between hiring managers and Human Resources for higher salaries will intensify in Q4 and well into 2011.

Bottom line: we expect a brief burst of hiring in Q4 with employers keeping a very tight reign on salaries.

Only time will tell if employers can see the forest for the trees as many research positions remain unstaffed.

Despite the summer months acting as the traditional vacation season within the MR industry, we are seeing an increased demand for researchers at all levels. After two years of downsizing, companies want (and in our opinion--need) to hire.

Among the emerging trends: Growing demand for:

• Researchers with strong quantitative skills for supplier positions
• Sales professionals among research suppliers
• Seasoned Research Managers and Senior Managers for Corporate research jobs

This is all good news.

Unfortunately, many employers continue to believe candidates should be "pleased" to receive any job offer in the current economy. Few seem to understand good candidates--who are always in demand--need to be "wooed" with attractive offers to secure an acceptance.

Candidates with whom we speak are increasingly open to discussions and exploring new positions but remain cautious about making a career move.

Interestingly, we are also seeing employers make aggressive counter offers to keep good researchers on their teams. Before accepting an offer and resigning, candidates need to consider how they may handle counteroffer situations. We will gladly help candidates navigate this important topic to help maximize their long-term career potential.

As we approach the end of the first quarter, I wanted to share our perspective on the job market with you.

Fortunately, the demand for hiring has increased significantly. Employers are looking to expand their teams with quality researches to reduce the current workload and tackle new projects.

However, the salary expectations of many employers (based on their job requirements) remain out of line with historical metrics and the value delivered by seasoned MR professionals. Consequently, many employers are being "penny wise and pound foolish" as they continuously advertise for jobs they cannot fill due to unreasonably low salaries. We urge candidates to ask employers how long they have been trying to fill any given position.

As you know and have likely experienced firsthand, there is a greater workload being placed upon MR professionals who are currently employed -- many who have not received a raise or bonus in the past one or two years.

And with the additional stress of more demanding workloads, cracks are appearing in employee's goodwill toward their employer. Many MR professionals are open to or actively exploring career opportunities. Additionally, many MR professionals also tire of providing minimal quality work in an effort to address the overwhelming demands for their services.

And while the hiring process remains slow, the imbalance that has emerged over the past two years is now beginning to swing in favor of the candidate.

In our view, demand for experienced candidates will continue to grow throughout 2010 as:

• Open positions remain unstaffed
• Turnover becomes more prevalent
• The demand for market research grows
• Candidates seek more lucrative and "balanced" work environments

Importantly, candidates will experience greater compensation as the demand for MR professionals grows throughout the year.

Our suggestion is that it may finally be time for MR professionals to take an objective review of their contributions, workload, career aspirations, and compensation and see how they match to their current position.

We hope you will find congruency. But if you don't, this spring may be the time to take a look around after a two year winter.