Marketing Sector Update: Skills, AI and Recruitment Trends in 2025

The marketing and digital recruitment market across Australia and New Zealand is in a period of transition as 2025 begins. Strategic planning, customer experience, and social media are taking precedence as top skill areas. Lead generation remains the foremost priority for 60% of marketing teams, closely followed by brand awareness at 54%. Although automation and AI are currently secondary focuses (13%), they are steadily becoming integral to long-term marketing strategies.

Despite these ambitions, hiring remains cautious. While 65% of marketing teams plan to grow in 2025, only 42% of businesses have hiring plans in place. Most recruitment is targeted at junior roles such as marketing assistants, coordinators, and social media managers. This reflects the impact of tighter budgets and the growing demand for generalist skills. In terms of recruitment drivers, 34% of hiring is for replacements and 27% for business growth, with fewer initiatives tied to new projects.

AI is already reshaping how work is done in marketing. The technology is widely adopted, with 89% of teams using AI tools to enhance productivity. Key areas of application include content creation (41%), creative asset production (27%), and SEO (21%). Despite this high adoption rate, 56% of marketing teams still report being under-resourced, signalling a gap between technological capability and operational capacity.

Overall, organisations are increasingly seeking cross-functional talent with both digital and creative strengths. While staff turnover remains stable for 58% of teams, ongoing resourcing issues point to the need for more efficient hiring strategies and clearer role definitions.

"Organisations are placing greater emphasis on adaptable, cross-functional talent"

According to Aiden Boast, Team Leader, Temporary Specialist Recruitment at people2people, "Organisations are placing greater emphasis on adaptable, cross-functional talent." This observation captures the evolving expectations in marketing roles as teams navigate a landscape shaped by innovation and resource constraints.

Aiden notes that recruitment is largely focused on filling entry-level roles. "We're seeing high demand for marketing assistants, coordinators, and social media managers," he says. This demand reflects budget-conscious hiring and the need for versatile team members who can manage multiple responsibilities. "The trend is clearly moving towards generalists with strong digital and creative capabilities," he adds.

Despite growth plans, actual recruitment activity remains modest. "Forty-two percent of businesses aren’t planning any new hires this year," Aiden points out, underlining the caution that still prevails in the market. Yet, he highlights that innovation remains a focus. "AI tools are now a mainstay in most marketing teams, with 89% adoption," he explains. These tools are helping teams improve efficiency, especially in areas like content creation and SEO.

However, resourcing continues to be a challenge. "Fifty-six percent of marketing teams say they’re under-resourced," Aiden shares. Even with stable staff turnover, the imbalance between workload and headcount is affecting execution. Aiden believes that businesses will need to adjust by redefining roles and streamlining their hiring processes. "It’s about aligning your talent strategy with your operational goals," he concludes.

Tips for Building a Resilient Marketing Team in 2025

• Prioritise hiring adaptable team members with cross-functional digital and creative skills

• Leverage AI tools not just for efficiency, but for strategic content and SEO planning

• Focus hiring efforts on essential roles that align with resource capacity

• Create flexible role definitions to make better use of generalist talent



• Assess team structure regularly to ensure it supports evolving marketing goals