Around half of marketers and creatives are worried about job security, but rising prices and broader economic concerns are bigger sources of stress.

That’s according to an online survey of 1,100 Canadians developed by recruitment and talent firm Robert Half, conducted by independent research firms.

The survey found that 47% of marketing and creative workers are concerned about their job security. However, rising prices and interest rates  are a concern for 82% of respondents, with 75% worried about wider economic changes.

According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for graphic designers is 1.8%, marketing managers is 2.2%, advertising managers is 3.5% and market research analysts is 3.5%, all of which are well behind the national unemployment rate of 5%.

The idea of costs going up despite having job security means that salary concerns remain a top priority for those in the industry: 78% of marketing and creative workers would like their salary to increase by the end of this year, while 36% would like to receive a promotion this year. Perhaps related to this is the fact that 49% of marketing and creative professionals are looking for or plan to look for a new job in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, 44% of marketers and creatives worry about losing the ability to work where and when they want to in 2023.

In addition, 60% of managers in the industry report they are hiring for new roles in Robert Half’s survey, though some roles may have better luck finding work than others: the most in-demand professions are PR specialists, PR managers, marketing managers and graphic designers. However, full-time work may be harder to come by, as 69% of managers plan to hire more contract professionals in the first half of 2023, representing a 6% increase from the second half of 2022.