Marketing Job Market 2026: Postings, Pay and AI

Marketing job postings have not returned to their pre-2020 level in the US or the UK. Indeed Hiring Lab's job postings index sets February 1, 2020 at 100, and on October 23, 2026 the marketing index stood at 76.8 in the US and 48 in the UK. The US index has stayed between 70 and 90 since July 2, 2023.

The totals hide a change inside the market. In the US, more employers post marketing roles but each posts fewer, senior roles hold while entry-level and associate listings fall, and 57.5% of postings now state a salary. In the UK, average pay fell in 2026 across seniority levels, while marketing jobs paying above £80,000 grew 143% year on year. Official US projections still expect 7% more marketing managers by 2035.

Marketing Postings Are 23% Below February 2020, and the Fall Has Stopped

On October 23, 2026, the US marketing index stood at 76.8, which is 23% below the baseline and level with a year earlier (77.2). Postings for new roles, the clearest sign of fresh hiring intent, stand at 78.4 against 80.8 a year earlier. The low of the cycle came on April 29, 2026 at 73.6, and no month of 2026 averaged above 80.

The index peaked at 185.9 on February 28, 2022, almost twice the 2020 level, and last stood above 100 on April 23, 2023. Every one of the 1,210 days since July 2, 2023 has stayed between 70 and 90. A plateau that has lasted 3 years is long enough to treat as the working baseline for hiring plans.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab.

Marketing Is the 4th-Weakest of 47 US Sectors

Only Data & Analytics (62), Media & Communications (68) and IT Infrastructure, Operations & Support (70) sit lower. All US postings together stand at 97.9, so marketing trails the market by 21 points. Over the past 12 months marketing is flat (-0.6%), the 14th-weakest of 47 sectors, while Mechanical Engineering (+44%), Industrial Engineering (+38%), Electrical Engineering (+33%) and Software Development (+24%) climbed.

Marketing teams at communications and media companies also cut the most headcount in the CMO Survey's 2026 headcount data, down 13.7%, and Media & Communications is the second-weakest posting sector.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab. All US postings: 97.9.

The UK Is the Weakest Market: Marketing Postings Stand at Less Than Half of 2020

Marketing postings trail total postings in all 6 countries with sector data in the same dataset, by 21 points in the US and 44 in Germany. The UK is the weakest marketing market at 48, down from 56 a year earlier. Australia is the only country at its 2020 level and the only one where marketing grew over the past 12 months.

A UK job board shows a stronger top end. Marketing jobs paying more than £80,000 grew 143% year on year in CV Library data reported by Marketing Week, which matches the US split between senior and entry-level roles below.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab.

More Employers Hire, but Each Posts Fewer Marketing Roles

Taligence's 2025 United States Marketing Jobs Report, which analyzed more than 240,000 full-time in-house listings, finds the same pattern from a different angle. In 2025, 38,964 US employers posted marketing roles, up 5.3%, while active listings fell 8.2% to 241,749 and new postings fell 10.2% to 212,336. The average posting stayed open 39 days at the end of 2025, 6 days longer than a year earlier.

Senior hiring held up. Director-level and above postings rose 2.1% to 29,818, and the number of senior roles still open at year-end rose 12.3%. Entry-level and associate listings ended 2025 down 8.6% on a year earlier. The AMA's 2026 State of Marketing Careers Report, a survey of marketers combined with postings data, reads the market the same way: marketing jobs remain down 27% from pre-pandemic levels, more employers are hiring, and senior and strategic roles hold steady while execution roles decline.

Source: Taligence, 2025 United States Marketing Jobs Report.

Growth, Product and Field Marketing Grow While Communications and Analytics Shrink

Roles that own a number tied to revenue or customers grew fastest in 2025 US listings: growth marketing (+33%), partner and channel marketing (+21.2%), field marketing (+16.5%) and product marketing (+12.4%). Communications and PR (-13.6%), analytical marketing (-8%) and general marketing (-3.5%) fell. Product marketing also pays most, with a median of $159,994.

The AMA report adds a global signal: influencer marketer roles grew 10% in 2024 and 18% in 2025, the fastest of any marketing role, although marketers ranked influencer marketing last among 37 skills in the same survey. Its AI disruption map, built on Stanford's Human Agency Scale, puts email marketing, SEO, paid media, performance analytics, copywriting, lead generation, market research and graphic design among the most disrupted work, and marketing strategy, brand management and leadership among the least.

Source: Taligence, 2025 United States Marketing Jobs Report.

Pay: Stated More Often, Rising in US Listings, Falling in the UK

US marketing postings state a salary far more often than in 2020. In the postings data, 57.5% of US marketing postings showed explicit pay in August 2026, against 14.1% in January 2020, 36.5% in January 2023 and 52.7% in January 2025. Marketing sits above the all-sector average of 52.7%. The Taligence report found 54.7% of in-house listings stating a range in 2025, 9 points more than a year earlier, with a median advertised salary of $88,400 at year-end, up 7.1%.

Pay for marketing managers sits well above the advertised median for all marketing levels. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts the median marketing manager at $166,790 in May 2025, with the lowest-paid 10% under $90,260 and the top 10% above $293,610.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab.

The UK moved the other way. In Marketing Week's 2026 Career & Salary Survey, average pay fell across seniority levels and sectors, and 51.2% of respondents said their remit had grown without a matching pay rise.

Source: Marketing Week, Career & Salary Survey 2026.

About 1 in 4 US Marketing Postings Offers Remote or Hybrid Work

On September 30, 2026, 25.7% of US marketing postings mentioned remote or hybrid work, level with a year earlier (25.8%). The share was 7.8% in January 2020 and peaked at 31.9% in June 2022. Marketing ranks 8th of 38 sectors and sits well above the sector median of 18.1%. Remote work in marketing has settled below its 2022 peak.

The UK share is higher at 37.9%, down from 40.1% a year earlier and from a 46.2% peak in January 2024.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab.

Official Projections Still Expect Marketing Manager Jobs to Grow

BLS projects marketing manager employment to rise 7% from 2025 to 2035, against 3% for all occupations. It expects about 36,300 openings a year across advertising, promotions and marketing managers, many of them replacing people who change occupation or leave the workforce. One group is projected to shrink: advertising and promotions managers, as AI speeds up generating and testing digital ads and ad blockers soften demand.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. All occupations: +3%.

Why Marketing Hiring Is Stuck: Hypotheses That Fit the Data

The postings show what employers do and say little about why. These 4 hypotheses fit the pattern.

Hypothesis 1: AI Takes Execution Work First

The roles that shrink are the ones closest to producing output: communications, analytics reporting and general marketing in the 2025 listings, and the work the AMA map rates most disrupted. BLS names AI in its projection for advertising and promotions managers, and postings that mention AI-related terms make up 7.3% of all US postings against 3.7% a year earlier (9.9% against 5.1% in the UK). Against this, Software Development postings rose 24% in a year, and no source isolates AI as the cause of marketing's plateau.

Hypothesis 2: Teams Stay Lean After Budget Pressure

Marketing headcount growth fell to 2.5% in 2026 from 5.4% in 2025 in the team size data, and the listings report describes more employers hiring for fewer roles each. Marketing leaders estimate that marketing is cut before other areas in about 45% of cost-cutting rounds, so a team that survives a cut often rebuilds smaller.

Hypothesis 3: Hiring Concentrates in Senior, Accountable Roles

Director-level and above postings grew while entry-level and associate listings fell 8.6%, and UK postings above £80,000 grew 143%. A leaner team asks each hire to carry a number. The cost is the pipeline: fewer junior hires today means fewer experienced managers later, the gap described in the junior marketer extinction.

Hypothesis 4: Openings Come From Turnover More Than From Growth

BLS expects 36,300 openings a year, many of them replacements, while the postings index sits 23% below 2020. Employment can keep rising slowly while postings stay low if most openings replace people who leave. With an average CMO tenure of 4.1 years at S&P 500 companies in the CMO tenure data, leadership seats open often compared with team growth of 2.5%.

What Marketing Leaders Can Do With This

• Publish the salary range. 57.5% of US marketing postings already state pay, so a posting without it is in the minority.
• Plan about 6 weeks to fill a role. The average posting stayed open 39 days at the end of 2025, 6 days longer than a year earlier.
• Set remote and hybrid terms before posting. About 1 in 4 US marketing postings and 38% of UK postings mention them, so candidates compare.
• Build the junior pipeline on purpose. Entry-level listings fell 8.6% while senior listings rose, and the managers of 2030 are hired in the next few years.

What the Postings Data Leaves Out

Postings measure intent to hire, and a posting can stay open for weeks or close without a hire. None of the sources separates B2B from B2C marketing or counts fractional and freelance work.

Marketing Hiring Trends to Watch Next

The Indeed series refreshes weekly. A move of the US marketing index above 90 for the first time since July 2023 would be the first sign of a recovery in hiring.

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About the Author

Ruslan Abdrakhmanov is an Executive Marketing Advisor and CMO with 13+ years leading international marketing teams across EMEA, SEA, and Americas. Expert in data-driven growth strategies with the track record growing B2B and B2C businesses.

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