Employee morale is trending downward in the advertising industry, reports Campaign US in its second annual morale survey. The advertising trade magazine reports that 47 percent of industry employees rate their morale as either low (31 percent) or dangerously low (16 percent). In 2015, the same survey found 34 percent of employees described their morale as low or dangerously low.
“These findings are sobering, but—sadly—not surprising,” says Douglas Quenqua, editor in chief of Campaign US. “Conversations with people at all levels of the industry reveal widespread frustration and even despondence about the industry and their own jobs. This is a serious issue for advertising, particularly as it fights with other industries for tech and creative talent.”
The survey found that the top three factors behind employee low morale are company leadership (73 percent), lack of advancement (45 percent) and dissatisfaction with work (38 percent). Furthermore, 63 percent of those with low morale said that they were actively job hunting.
Most employees who described their morale as satisfactory (22 percent), good (20 percent) or excellent (12 percent) listed work/life balance (62 percent) as their primary reason. Respondents who had been in the industry for five years or fewer were twice as likely to report high morale.
The survey, conducted in September 2016, received responses from 294 subjects. Of those, 61 percent worked at a creative agency, 13 percent for a brand and 13 percent for media agency. Social platform and publisher employees, and freelancers comprise the rest.
