No longer a dim idea on the horizon, artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life at advertising agencies across the country. More than two-thirds of agency employees report using the technology a few times per week or more, according to a recent survey of ADWEEK readers.
At the same time, advertising jobs aren’t increasing.
Preliminary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show employment at U.S. ad agencies rose slightly in May to 220,100 positions. On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, the number of industry jobs remains 3.5% lower than a high of 228,000 recorded in April 2023.
Several factors have contributed to this lack of growth.
Economic uncertainty related to global trade wars is one. Omnicom’s takeover of rival IPG is another.
“They are looking to be as lean as possible on paper, meaning there is a greater level of scrutiny given to any hire,” said Sasha Martens, president of recruiting firm Sasha the Mensch, about Omnicom’s planned acquisition of IPG.
AI replaces entry-level positions
Another element putting pressure on the decision to bring on more workers is the rise of AI, which agencies are embracing to do a variety of tasks, from copywriting to ad buying. Just over half of social media managers, for instance, say they can’t imagine doing their job without the technology, according to survey results from social media performance platform Hootsuite.
Additional employment statistics suggest AI is hitting entry-level jobs harder than more senior roles.
As Patrick Garvey, founding partner at ad agency We Are Pi, put it: “Now AI hoovers up the grunt work, so agencies are starting to skip the junior rung altogether.”
Examining a sample of nearly 50 U.S. marketing and advertising companies—from ad giants IPG and Omnicom to Publicis agencies Digitas and Starcom—figures from employment data provider Live Data Technologies reveal staff positions have declined more than 10% since January 2022. Manager and director jobs, meanwhile, have remained relatively steady during the same period.
“All the routine tasks once handled by junior creatives, media planners, and account coordinators are increasingly being both automated and outsourced,” said J. Scott Hamilton, president and CEO of Live Data Technologies.
