Earlier this year, IAPI released the Spring edition of the 2023 Sentiment Survey. The survey witnessed the highest level of response ever received by an IAPI survey of this nature. Every year we launch the sentiment survey to understand and assess the general feeling of our workforce. The areas targeted in the survey include - How happy they are with their working conditions? If they are optimistic about their future in the industry, work-life balance, stress levels and more.
Despite a challenging few years for the industry the responses were overall positive and consistent across all ages and all levels.
Advertising has always managed to evolve and respond to the perpetually changing needs of its clients and the IAPI survey found over two-thirds of those in the industry were optimistic about its future in general.
“I would like to thank so many industry people for participating in this important sentiment survey. It provides a valuable snapshot of how IAPI member employees are feeling right now. As always, their constructive feedback is vital to ensure that agencies and IAPI are on track and prioritising the wellbeing of such a talented workforce,” says Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI. “I am, as ever, in awe of the volume and quality of the work the industry delivers for brands, and seeing such positivity and optimism for it’s future is energising.”
- Pride in the industry is very evident, with 80% of respondents proud or very proud to work in the commercial creativity and communications sector, and three-quarters stating they would recommend it. Network agency respondents show the least pride in their industry at 56%, and Events/Experiential respondents the most at 95%.
- Optimism for their own agency is strong compared to that for the industry as a whole, with 87% being optimistic or very optimistic about the future of their own agency and only two-thirds being optimistic about the industry.
- 2023 performance is predicted to be strong with 63% of respondents predicting their agency will do better or much better than last year. 29% predict it will do the same which is also positive as 2022 was a good year for the industry on average, and only 8% state their agency will do worse. Network agency respondents are again showing a more negative view with only half expecting a better performance and 15% expecting it to be worse compared to 2022.
- Staying power & Job Security is high with 60% stating they will stay in the industry for five years or more and 8 out of 10 feeling secure or very secure in their role. This reflects a less frenetic talent war with big tech, who have been cutting back on staffing levels recently.
- It’s still a fun industry according to respondents who scored communication, fun, culture, and sociable aspects of working in their agency very well, with scores between 70-80% in their areas.
- Mid Managers are the most stressed with over a third stating they are always stressed at work. They also have the least pride and feel the most undervalued compared to any other cohort in the industry. Three-quarters of mid-managers are aged between 26-40 which is arguably the age of most financial and family pressure, so it is perhaps not surprising that they need more appreciation and support in the workplace.
- Hybrid working is overall a better working experience according to 75% of respondents, with 8 out of 10 agree that their work life balance is better for it, albeit agency culture is still cited as a major challenge by 73% of respondents. After two years of hybrid working in the industry, it has settled with two-thirds of agency employees spending 2-3 days per week in the office, although those doing 2 or fewer days per week in the office is the most common.
- Cost of Living is hitting agency employees with nearly 8 out 10 respondents agreeing that their disposable income has reduced considerably in the last six months, and 30% stating that they are struggling to make ends meet. On a more positive note, over half agree or strongly agree that they still have enough disposable income to do the things they like to do.
- Housing costs take up on average 29% of respondents' disposable income, with Energy & Utility costs eating up between 15-20%, and commuting or car costs taking up 10%. On average childcare takes up 9% of income, although this increases to 15% at the Leadership level.
- Current state of mind findings indicates that stress levels at work remain high, with 30% of respondents stating that they are always stressed at work. Encouragingly, 78% feel able to ask managers for help, and over half feel that they can talk openly about their mental health at work. This would imply that the work being undertaken by the industry to promote good mental well-being is beginning to take effect.
- Familiarity with SMASH, the Employee Assistance Programme for all IAPI members, funded by TABs, is low with only 43% stating awareness of the programme, and a much lower number among the younger age groups. This is an issue given that mental health issues have been significant since Covid across this age group so this is a calling card for the industry to promote the services provided by SMASH, particularly those relating to legal, financial and career, in addition to free mental health counselling.
- Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is perceived by respondents to be improving. 12% more respondents (a total of 74%) agree that the industry is moving in the right direction compared to the findings in the 2020 IAPI Sentiment Survey.
- Sustainability is naturally a priority for the industry and 91% of respondents believe that ‘our industry has an important role in changing consumer behaviour’. While 75% agree that their agency is committing to sustainable initiatives such as Ad Net Zero, only 44% believe that their clients are actually committing to sustainable behaviors.
IAPI thanks each one of our respondents for taking the time to complete the Sentiment survey this spring. The survey results are now available for Download.
Click on the link below and see what the industry has to say.
