Marketing Executive, Data Scientist Make SHRM’s List of Hardest Jobs to Fill for 2016

/ MarketPro News / By

ATLANTA – October 7, 2015 – Two critical marketing-related positions–Data Scientist and Marketing Executive–will be among the most difficult of any professional roles to fill next year, according to a report published through the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerCast.

The report features ten job types that are expected to be extremely difficult for companies to fill in 2016, including Electrical Engineers, Home Health Aides, and Physical Therapists. A variety of factors can contribute to the difficulty of hiring for these roles, including a sudden explosion in demand as well as workforce factors like a high rate of retirement.

Data Scientist is a relative newcomer to the list of hard-to-find talent.

“We’ve certainly seen growing interest in analytics professionals at all levels for marketing, data and web disciplines” said Allyson Dillard, a Senior Recruiter for MarketPro who specializes in marketing analytics staffing. “Many organizations suddenly find themselves with mountains of data or a new suite of sophisticated analytics tools, only to realize there’s no one around to make use of it. But the pool of available talent is still small, so not everyone is finding the experienced data scientists they need to make well-informed business decisions.”

On the other hand, a deficit of quality marketing executives and management has been a problem for some time now.

According to CareerBuilder alone, an average of 34,613 unique marketing executive job postings are created monthly while only 11,617 are filled. That creates a difference of nearly 23,000 empty leadership positions.

“For most businesses, finding a highly qualified marketing leader that also fits well with the company culture is like finding a needle in a haystack.” said Bob Van Rossum, President of marketing executive search firm MarketPro. “More than ever, it’s important to have leaders who are equally comfortable positioning a brand or managing digital as they are working with data and gleaning meaningful insights from their analytics”
“With everything in marketing changing, there are very few people who have the complete skillset necessary to be successful in today’s environment,” he added. “In order to find those rare individuals, you need the help of someone who truly understands modern marketing and has regular experience interacting with top candidates of all kinds.”

About MarketPro

MarketPro Inc. is a woman-owned marketing staffing and executive search firm founded in 1996 “By Marketers, For Marketers.” Headquartered in Atlanta, the nationwide agency matches high-performing marketers with clients who need their skills and experience to take their business to the next level. Learn more at marketproinc.com.

About SHRM

Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. Learn more at www.shrm.org.