Australian media and marketing hiring rose 11% last quarter to 1,166 roles, its best run since 2024, but the gains are K-shaped. Events, out of home, retail media and AI roles are up while programmatic, search, social and media sales keep falling. The hiring market is a map of where budgets are heading.
The Take: Hiring is the most honest forecast in marketing, because few people spend a salary on a bet they do not believe. Australia's media and marketing job market just posted its best quarter in three years, and where the roles landed is a map of where budgets are heading. The jobs are moving. The question is whether your plan is moving with them.
The numbers: Sector hiring rose 11% in the September quarter to 1,166 roles, the strongest result since late 2024, according to recruiter Mercury Talent as reported by B&T. Marketing and communications roles jumped 68% after deep cuts in 2025. Out of home and retail media hiring rose 31%. Roles with AI in the title hit a record, up 140% on the same quarter last year.
The split: This is not a tide lifting everything. Programmatic hiring fell 28%. Search and social dropped 14%, and television and streaming fell by the same margin. Media sales slid 9% in its sixth straight quarter of decline. Mercury Talent director Justin Randles said he is loath to call the result a recovery. Read the split again. Money and talent are leaving the channels built for cheap scale and moving toward attention you can see and sponsorships you can stand next to.
Media and marketing jobs added in Australia last quarter, the best run since 2024
The signal: A hiring market does not predict the future. It reveals where operators are placing their chips right now. Mid level hiring rose 25%, a record, which tells you companies are buying people who can run things rather than assist. REA Group lifted its sales hiring 180% and Google lifted its own 55%, so the platforms are still staffing hard to sell. The money is backing people over automation for the first time in years.
For Australian operators: Use the hiring data as a cheap signal before you set next year's plan. Three moves. If you still weight budget to programmatic and paid social, ask why the market is pulling staff out of exactly those seats. Put a real person on retail media and out of home while the talent is still affordable. Hire or train for measurement and AI application now, because a 140% jump in AI roles means that skill gets more expensive every quarter you wait.