U.S. Marketing Jobs Report

What a week!

But it’s hardly the first time the ground has shifted beneath our feet.

I was 2 months into my first startup servicing US clients in England when I watched the Twin Towers fall. I’ve witnessed the dot-com crash wipe out whole industries, sat through budget freezes during the financial crisis, and seen Covid redraw the hiring map overnight.

And yes, marketers endure. They evolve. They find a way forward. So when I say Q1 2025 surprised me, I don’t mean that the market bounced back - I mean how it bounced and who it favored.

Despite a messy macro picture, marketing hiring didn’t freeze. It recalibrated. Leadership roles picked up some steam. Performance-focused functions kept getting funded. New York got loud again. And companies that had ghosted salary ranges finally started coming clean, even in traditionally red states where no legislation exists to force disclosure.

Here at Taligence, we had our best quarter yet. More clients, more retained searches, and yes - more placements. But let me be honest: that’s not why we built CMO Ladder.

Taligence might only help 6 to 12 marketing leaders land the top job in a given year. But I meet over 1,000 strangers annually. And for every CMO we place, there are usually 9 runners-up - smart, capable, often extraordinary marketers who made it to the final round and walked away without the offer. CMO Ladder exists for them.

This report, this work, this platform: it’s our way of making sure the other 950 people we meet don’t leave empty-handed. The silver medalists still get the goldmine of insight.

That you, whether you’re hiring or looking, have something to help you make sense of this shifting terrain. Sure, we’d love it if you support us with a subscription. But that’s not the reason we show up.

We show up because the market’s always moving - even when it pretends not to. And if you look closely, Q1 was more than noise; it was more a signal. The roles getting funded. The markets heating up. The slow, deliberate reshaping of what it means to be a modern marketing leader.

KEY FINDINGS

1.  Marketing Jobs on the Rise
Q1 saw a healthy lift in marketing roles, with active listings reaching 90,951, a 9.1% increase from the previous quarter. New postings were up even more sharply at 13.3%. All told, 22,792 employers were in the market for marketers, so it’s safe to say hiring was brisk.

2.  Executive Hiring Springs Back
Senior marketing roles (Director and above) saw a notable resurgence, rising 15.9% quarter-over-quarter and 17.6% year-over-year. The bulk of the growth came from more senior titles, especially at Group Director/ Senior Director /VP level, suggesting firms are once again investing in top-tier talent.

3. Remote Work: Still Holding Its Ground
Despite the wider push to get employees back to their desks, remote marketing roles (on the client side, at least) held steady at 13.7%. Hybrid expectations appear to have stabilised as well - no dramatic shifts either way.

4.  In-Demand Specialties
Growth Marketing, Media, and Product Marketing continued their ascent, logging the strongest year-on-year gains. Partner & Channel Marketing rebounded impressively with a 46% quarterly jump. Meanwhile, Brand Marketing and PR & Communications lost some ground.

5.  Pay Trends to Note
The biggest year-on-year salary increases were seen in Partner & Channel Marketing, Brand Marketing, and Content Marketing. Field Marketing, typically on the lower end of the pay scale, saw a notable 20.2% quarterly pay increase. Across all marketing roles, the median salary now stands at $84,989, up 6.3% from last year.

6.  More Transparency on Pay
Nearly 50% of listings now include salary information - an 11.6 percentage point increase compared to last year. Encouraging signs for candidates hoping to avoid the old “competitive salary” guessing game.

7.  New York's Marketing Mojo Returns
New York posted strong growth, with marketing jobs up 12.9% YoY and 31.5% QoQ. While Georgia, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia saw declines year-over-year, most are now bouncing back with double-digit growth in Q1 - Virginia being the notable exception, with numbers still in decline.

8.  Regional Pay Swings
Marketers in Massachusetts enjoyed the highest salary increases, while those in Georgia saw the sharpest declines. A reminder that geography still matters when it comes to compensation.

9.  Hiring Speed Slows Slightly
The average posting lifetime is now 31 days, 3 days longer than in Q4 2024. A modest slowdown, perhaps, but one that hints at longer approval cycles, increased competition for niche roles, more thorough vetting, or simply a business climate that’s keeping employers cautious and candidates waiting.