Recent data shows that marketing hiring at 12 major tech companies has declined more than engineering hiring. Marketing positions decreased by 36%, while engineering positions decreased by only 11% during the same period.
The data comes from SignalFire State of Talent Report. It compares big tech companies like Alphabet and Microsoft with a selection of early-stage startups. The figures come from the company’s Beacon AI recruiting platform.
Where hiring has declined
Design saw the biggest decline, with hiring at large tech companies down 48% and at startups 22%.
Product management hiring was down 39%, while marketing positions saw a 36% decrease at large companies and 18% at startups.
Engineering held up better than any of them. In the majors, engineering hiring decreased by 11%, while in startups it increased by 7%.
The report’s authors believe the increase in the share of engineering hiring is the result of deeper reductions in other fields, not a boom in the engineering sector.
The gap is also evident in attrition rates. The attrition rate for marketing is 12.2% and for design 12.6%, compared to 9.2% for engineering. Support professions are experiencing higher departure rates despite a reduction in their hiring.
Why it matters
This constitutes a new point of reference in an already rich, albeit narrow, year. The data focuses on internal roles at large tech companies and early-stage startups, excluding the broader marketing job market, agency work, or research and PPC roles.
We covered Challenger datawhich identified AI as the main reason given for job cuts in the United States. SignalFire provides additional perspective by analyzing hiring trends within technology companies, revealing that marketing has seen a steeper decline than engineering.
Looking to the future
It’s unclear whether this applies outside of big tech. The thing to watch is whether the same disparity shows up in broader employment marketing data or whether it’s limited to internal teams at tech companies.
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