Labor Stats: Ad Jobs Still Falling While PR Has Hope

With the release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' employment trends overview on March 4 came what the U.S. Department of Labor called "great news for America's families." For out-of-work or job-hunting ad agency professionals, the news was not so bright. However, figures suggested the prospect for public-relations agency job growth was good. Overall, "three million new jobs have been created in the past 21 months," the department said in a statement. That includes significant growth in construction and service-providing industries. In addition, the report heralded, February's number for the "long-term unemployed"—those who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks—remained stable at 1.6 million. In contrast, employment at ad agencies between January 2004 and January 2005 fell by almost 3,000 jobs, to 161,500. The 2 percent drop marked the industry's 42nd month of decline since 2001, and stats show that even during the 1990 recession, agency employment never fell below 168,000. "Business fell off after the burst of the Internet bubble and it hasn't recovered," said Alan Gottesman, principal at New York's West End Communications. He offered a less enthusiastic outlook on the ad industry's ability to turn itself around. "Managers are somewhat skittish about when the good times will return, so why assume the risk?" On the other hand, according to bureau data, the PR sector has experienced somewhat of a recovery, although January 2005 PR-firm employment numbers, at 44,800, are still 21 percent lower than the 55,000 that PR agency staffers reported in January 2001. The disparity between the two marketing disciplines' fortunes since 1990, as shown in the index-adjusted graph below, is tempered by the fact that the current number of available PR jobs is only one-fourth that of available ad jobs, Gottesman noted.Gottesman and search consultants specializing in advertising and PR recruiting said that well-publicized factors, including agency consolidation and government-mandated marketing restrictions on controversial products such as alcohol and cigarettes, continue to siphon off the number of ad industry jobs in the U.S. In corporate communications, however, recruiters agreed there was more reason for optimism. They pointed to robust growth in fields such as healthcare, which rely heavily on public relations to help protect reputations and promote technological advancements.In addition, continued media fragmentation, the growth of the Internet and other proliferating communications channels all increase opportunities—and ultimately jobs—for PR practitioners. Even recruiters specializing in ad agency placements agreed that PR's prospects, while still not golden, are brightening."Media choices are endless," said Rick Myers, president of the Atlanta-based employment firm Talent Zoo. With the current influx of new media outlets, he added, "the PR jobs are out there." As for the ad business, Myers said, hope springs eternal. "There's nowhere else to go but up."

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Labor Stats: Ad Jobs Still Falling While PR Has Hope

Randi Schmelzer

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