Well, what a year. I wouldn't normally do any work at all between Christmas and New Year. For me as a Recruiter, it's the one time when no-one wants to hear from me so I fully switch off and recharge the batteries. However, this year I've been laid low with a bug since Christmas day and whilst I am spending time with family - they're all out and about having fun and I'm....not.
So, I thought I'd just do a brief summary of the year and get myself psyched up for 2026. Starting to feel a bit better and thought I should do something useful!
I've been in recruitment for the creative sector for over 20 years now. 2025 was, without doubt, the most challenging year yet. It wasn't down to any one particular thing, I think there were many competing factors which ended up creating a bit of a storm in our sector.
In 2025, we saw more redundancies than in the last 4 years put together. Competition for new roles has been tough for candidates and individuals have found themselves out of work for over 6 months on average. Senior level candidates found it much harder to find something new and several have left the industry, frustrated by what does increasingly look like ageism from employers. We've seen the smaller independent agencies struggling to acquire new business and the networks slim down in numbers considerably. All clients have reported that their clients are demanding more, for less and so there have been many 'distressed agencies' during 2025 and I think we're all hoping that 2026 shows a bit less uncertainty and clients have more confidence to increase their spend again.
There have been some exceptions. Interestingly several of our B2B agencies do report that they have had a good year. Even those with North American clients where the impact of Trump's tariffs caused quite a bit of consternation. I come originally from a b2b marketing background so I do like to champion the sector and ensure that the younger candidates don't feel that it is a poor relation to the 'sexy' consumer brands. I often say that the brands that appear to be the most beguiling turn out to be the trickiest customers!
We have seen salaries increase for juniors in the sector but no corresponding increase for senior level people. This is likely to cause issues down the line as individuals see their salaries flat lining when they get to AD level.
The elephant in the room has been AI. 2025 has been a year when several regional agencies have sought ways to embrace it and to adapt. It's not going away and this is the first year where clients have been specifically asking me for people who have skills and knowledge of making AI work for them - (these people are evolving! There are no true specialists yet!). AI isn't the beginning of the end for our sector, I think whilst there will always be a need for real people in our world so hopefully we will find a way of using it to enhance the client experience and results rather than replacing people.
I do an annual salary survey which comes with a 'state of the nation' review. I'll be putting the finishing touches to this in January for publication in February. If you've been interested in this little snapshot of 2025, let me know and I can ensure you receive a copy of the full review.
Wishing all my candidates and clients health and happiness for 2026 and I will be back at my desk on January 5th.
Happy New Year!
Fiona. 30 December 2025.