The median length of unemployment for direct marketers has reached 12 months, up from an average of 6.5 months a year ago, according to a survey from Bernhart Associates Executive Search.
Older workers with a higher desired income are facing lengthier unemployment than younger direct marketers, and nearly one-third of all job-seekers are 18 months into their search, according to the survey. Just fewer than half of respondents have been searching for more than a year.
“When you add it all up, unless they have an urgent need, employers are going to go slower, and these numbers show that,” said Jerry Bernhart, principal of Bernhart Associates Executive Search. “It’s an employer’s market and they know they can afford to take a little more time.”
Nearly half (48%) of respondents have been looking for a full-time direct marketing job for more than a year, while 10% said they have been looking for 10 to 12 months. Twenty-one percent of unemployed respondents said they have been job searching for between one and three months, while 12% said their search has lasted from four months to a half-year. Nine percent said they have been looking for between seven and nine months.
Bernhart sent the survey to 9,000 direct and digital marketers, narrowing qualified responses to include only unemployed direct marketers who are actively seeking full-time employment in the industry. There were 448 such respondents.
