Way back in those fresh post-lockdown days, it seemed like life was a heady mix of chasing after the ice cream van and working from home. Not only had we converted our spare rooms into office space, but we\u2019d gone nuclear by ordering in an ergonomic chair and <\/em>claiming tax relief on the whole shebang.<\/p>\n But the ever-shifting sands of the job market will always have their way, and 2024\u2019s current area of focus is this – the \u2018permanent\u2019 home\/in-office working-hybrid is losing its lustre for employers and employees alike.<\/p>\n We hear you, and the reasons are twofold. First off, global expenditures on office buildings are predicted to top $583 billion this year<\/a>, which reveals an important employer-led requirement for new hirings – they want their people more in-house than in-home.<\/p>\n The second rationale is much more unexpected, and is employee-centred.<\/p>\n A recent Castleforge poll<\/a> of more than 1,800 office workers around the UK found that more than a third (35%) of them feel socially isolated at home. On top of that, a whopping 41% reported working longer hours at home than they would in an office. And the most surprising thing of all, nearly half of these workers say they are more productive in the office<\/em>.<\/p>\n And things get even more interesting when the demographic is narrowed down.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll not be too surprised to hear that these attitudes are particularly strong amongst the stars of tomorrow – that all-important 18- to 24-year-old group. 43% of these influential trend-setters feel increasing social isolation when working from home, with an eye-watering 59% admitting they\u2019re less productive when segregated from the office and their workmates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First off, it hardly needs stating, but we\u2019re going to anyway – the marketing world is a fast-moving space where creativity meets data. This, in turn, points to how marketing roles are constantly evolving, and as far as emerging tech is concerned, how new skills come into demand almost overnight.<\/p>\n An obvious example of this is the help needed by the company\u2019s Marketing Manager. These days this role increasingly requires an ecosystem of specialists.<\/p>\n This has ushered in demand for a plethora of key job titles, and just about every business is going to need a version of the following.<\/p>\n First past the post are Content Strategists and SEO Specialists for online dominance.<\/p>\n Content creatives are no longer professional wordsmiths, but strategists who understand how content should reflect a brand\u2019s image. They also have to ensure that this content attracts those all-important customers and leaves them wanting more.<\/p>\n This goes hand-in-hand with SEO witchery, a skill that needs no introduction. After all, Google’s still king, and even the camouflaged duckduckgo uses SEO for search-engine oxygen.<\/p>\n Next up is sustainability, and it\u2019s no longer a buzzword – if a brand doesn\u2019t embrace it, it\u2019s a one-way trip to the crematorium. This chilling reality has caused the birth of the Sustainable Brand Manager.<\/p>\n We also need to focus on the mountains of data so elemental to a successful marketing strategy – we\u2019re looking at you, you clever Marketing Analysts.<\/p>\n Following closely behind, as if you hadn\u2019t noticed, AI is still on the march. This means that marketing now needs tech talent to mastermind the tools for personalised and in-yer-face advertising campaigns. AI is as fierce as the employee manipulating it, so these are the roles for digital lion tamers. In short, if you allow AI to do its own thing, your brand is toast.<\/p>\n And last but not least, Social Media Managers are still in hot demand. These platforms are becoming ever more central to our lives and, therefore, to a brand’s success – consumers are addicted to social media like kids to sweets\u2026 so stock up in industrial quantities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/h4>\n
\u201cBut the home-office was filled with birdsong – what the hell happened?\u201d<\/h4>\n
If these are the 2024 trends for where<\/em> we\u2019re working, then how hot is the marketing job board?<\/h4>\n
What this means for marketing employers and employees?<\/h4>\n