Media, Planning and Buying key takeaways from this years Salary and Benefits Survey

Jacob, Senior Consultant on our Media, Planning & Buying team has taken this years Salary & Benefits survey to breakdown key findings from the industry and share his thoughts on how it will shape out for this year...

So, it’s finally 2022. 2020 and 2021 were extremely difficult for everyone but finally COVID is starting to seem like a thing of the past. We are finally allowed back to the office (and the pub!) and life seems to be becoming normal again.

In the world of Media Planning & Buying, things are on the up. Candidate’s salaries are increasing, progression is accelerating faster than ever, and we are inundated with exciting new roles.

Below we will explore in a little more detail what has changed since 2021.

Gender Split

In 2021, Media Planning & Buying was a female dominated specialism with a 58% female and 42% male split. Whilst this year the scales seem to be tipping a little more towards an even split with a 53% female and 47% male split. All things considered, Media Planning and Buying still sits as a female dominated specialism (girl power!) but things seem to be balancing out and are continuing to do so over the past twelve months.

Bonus

Now, in MPB there hasn’t been much fluctuation at all with candidate’s receiving bonuses. Currently standing at a very average 53% of candidates receiving a bonus, down from 55% percent in 2021 but increased from 52% way back in 2020. Why is this? I most certainly don’t have all the answers, but an educated guess would be with most agencies now providing lots more benefits, ie. Pensions, healthcare, and all sorts of insurances maybe bonuses just don’t seem as necessary.

Job Satisfaction

Now this is an interesting one. I can happily say that overall job satisfaction has drastically improved from 2021 to 2022. With 49% of people ‘satisfied’ in their roles compared to only 33% of people being satisfied in 2021. I think following a year of working through a pandemic everyone has massively had a think about how important culture is to them in their role and rightly so, spending four/five days a week somewhere why would it not be?

With 62% of people voting for ‘Culture’ as the biggest factor to think about whilst on the hunt for a new role, second only to ‘Salary & Bonus’ with 71% of people voting as the most important.

Benefits vs Benefits Wanted

As you can imagine remote working is an incredibly desired benefit in 2022 as well as 2021. With most agencies now realising that a flexible working structure works and is sought after by most employees. Now with 76% of employers offering some sort of flexible structure drastically increased from 60% in 2021. Who doesn’t like saving a few pennies on travel and extra sleep huh?

If you want to delve deeper into the findings of this years salary & benefits survey, please click here!

Additionally, If you would like to find out about our media, planning & buying opportunities across the digital sector, reach out to me on Jacob@spherelondon.co.uk or Linkedin!