Centro Survey Focuses on Job Satisfaction and Workplace Challenges in Digital Media and Advertising; Advertising Technology is Only ‘Somewhat Helpful’ in Easing the Strain Felt by Workers
New York – Centro (www.centro.net), a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today published a workplace satisfaction survey showing that 44% of employees in the digital media and advertising industry are ready to leave their jobs within the next year or less. The survey also found that 34% of workers have had 3 or more jobs in the past five years. This is despite the fact that 57% of those surveyed are either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their jobs; and 65% percent say their jobs ‘absolutely’ meaningfully contribute to their companies. The full survey report is available at: www2.centro.net/digiday-2015.
Workplace satisfaction, happiness and retention is a challenge for industries that experience high competition for talent, such as digital media. Centro worked with the research team of Digiday (www.digiday.com), a modern media publication and events company, to gauge the sentiments and uncover the most pressing issues of nearly 400 digital media professionals. The survey found that:
• Nearly half of respondents (45%) cite ‘amount of resources and tools’ as the most challenging aspect of their job, followed by ‘work/life balance’ (25%).
• 42% log into 4-6 software platforms (excluding MS Office and email); 29% use 7 or more.
• Majority of employees (66%) work 40-60 hours each week, with 60% saying they are expect to be connected (via communications tech) during non-official work hours (late night, weekends).
“Advertising is a people business that relies on distinctly human contributions: ideas, creativity, connection, story-telling. This is the reason Centro focused our research on the state of today’s digital labor — the lifeblood of our business,” said Kelly Wenzel, CMO of Centro. “What better way to gauge the future of our space than to understand the mindset of the people who power it. The data tells us that job satisfaction is not yet a crisis, but there are growing concerns that could balloon if we don’t face the issues at hand.”
Ad Tech Only ‘Somewhat Helpful’
Technology should be relied upon to assuage the strain of managing information for growing industries. In the case of advertising technology, mediocrity seems to be the norm, as 77% of respondents claim that ad tech partners are ‘somewhat helpful,’ ‘not too helpful,’ or worse. The survey uncovered other areas of stress:
• On any given campaign, nearly 40% of respondents say they work with four or more ad tech partners; and 56% work with one to three.
• When ranking the most time-consuming tasks, respondents say it is ‘analysis and optimization,’ then ‘planning and buying,’ then ‘reporting.’
Centro’s software platform automates the entire lifecycle of media transactions between agencies/advertisers and publishers, encompassing guaranteed and biddable ad inventory on every major digital channel. It conducted its survey in conjunction with Digiday in October 2015, sampling an audience ranging from associates and managers to VPs and C-level executives at brands, agencies and publishers.
About Centro
Centro (www.centro.net) is creating a platform to make digital advertising easier. Its enterprise-class software centralizes, organizes and automates all digital media campaigns across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization, reporting and reconciliation needs. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 250,000 campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. Headquartered in Chicago with 32 offices in North America, Centro has received numerous accolades for its commitment to employees and workplace culture.
