Talent Survey: Will They Stay or Will They Go?

The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) and The European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (edcom), with the support of WARC, are launching two surveys aimed at final year marketing communications students and industry recruiters respectively.

The first questionnaire will measure the students’ appetite for pursuing a career in a creative, media or digital agency and enquire about their lived experiences during the university years. Simultaneously, the other survey, addressed to the recruiters in the above-mentioned agencies, focuses on disclosing any gaps between the talent’s expectations and the industry’s demands. 

According to the first-ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Census of the global marketing industry, 1 in 7 people said that they were likely to leave the industry due to multitude of reasons related to family status-based discrimination, pay gaps and a general lack of inclusion. Building on these results, the survey seeks to reach the youngest between us and get a sense of their “leaving or staying” rationale.

Focusing on the fresh graduates’ job prospects, their interest in the advertising industry and their expectations of the labour market, the questionnaire aims to reach thousands of students across Europe, catching a glimpse of their final year reflections on employment.
Mirroring the students’ feedback, recruiters within creative, media and digital agencies will be able to express their opinion on recruitment, the threats which other industries pose in terms of competition and the most in-demand profiles and skills.

The answers to the two surveys will be thoroughly analysed and compared, with the results shedding a light on what both universities and agencies can improve in order to bridge the current employment gap.
Participants can take the survey until 20 May and speak up about their expectations (the information collected from the respondents will be kept strictly confidential). The results will be presented by EACA and edcom after the summer.