The APG presented its third survey on the "State of Strategic Planning" in Canada. While the focus of the survey is compiling current salary data, it covers a range of topics including benefits, tenure, and job satisfaction.
The survey was completed by 350 industry professionals, from junior to executive positions across advertising and strategic planning. The majority are white male respondents between 26 and 45, working full-time.
“This year we conducted our largest survey yet,” said chair of the APG Mark Tomblin, in a release. “It provides a temperature check on the state of strategic planning in Canada and frankly, the picture it paints is not entirely pretty: 61% of strategists in Canada are more worried about the industry than they have ever been before and the majority of strategists under 35 years (58%) are concerned by the potential of ageing out of the industry.
The survey provides fresh insights on trends in the low and high end of salary brackets for each level of seniority, the highest salaries per province, the prevalence of pay rises and promotions, pay gaps, desired employee benefits, freelance work and overarching industry concerns.
When the APG launched its first salary survey in 2019, it uncovered a gender pay gap of 27% amongst the professionals who responded. In the cases where race played a role, non-visible minorities earned up to 30% more than visible minorities with similar tenure.
The 2023 findings now suggest that both gaps have begun to close, with men making on average 12% more than their female colleagues, and non-visible minorities making 8% more at the median level than their visible minority counterparts, and 5% more at the maximum. There is one notable exception in the case of senior positions—women are now making nearly 12% more than their male colleagues. While these changes represent progress, there remain clear barriers.
Women struggle to achieve the same career advancements as their male counterparts, and may feel that freelance work is the only way to make more money. According to the survey results, the majority of those freelancing are white women with 11+ years of tenure.
At large, candidates are also prioritising flexibility in their job searches, and share anxiety about ageing out of their careers preemptively.
The findings were examined by a panel of industry experts at the office of No Fixed Address last week, ranging from HR recruiters to senior strategists, both full-time and freelance.
Panellists: VP client service and recruitment at AIP Connect Cheryl Munroe, VP people and culture at Innocean Shawna Dressler, SVP strategy at Diamond Jon Crowley, head of strategy at No Fixed Address Zack Clein, freelance strategist Angela Harvey, and strategy director at Sid Lee Sumeet Sharma. CSO at Diamond Lori Davison moderated.
Men are better at asking for pay rises and promotions
The panel discussed whether or not men get paid more and promoted sooner because they are more willing to ask for it. “The biggest behaviour, sadly, that I've noticed in the last four years is that women typically aren't as confident as men when it comes to salary negotiations,” said VP client service and recruitment at AIP Connect, Cheryl Munroe. “I've found across the board that women are a lot more meek and mild. I've even had women apologise when they go high on their salary and say ‘I'm sorry, but I'm asking for this for XYZ reason’.”
“Women are socialised to behave a certain way, and not always comfortable to ask and negotiate,” added Innocean’s VP people and culture Shawna Dressler. “There are definitely a multitude of studies that show very, very clearly and definitively that in general, we perceive women to be worth less, and are less likely to think that they are equally qualified and are equally entitled to a certain salary, even when they have the same experience and qualifications. So the responsibility is on both parties—agencies as hiring entities and us as candidates.”
Women must do their own salary research, and know their worth, she said. She also wondered if women in senior levels are starting to close the pay gap because, as they stay in their career longer, they become more confident in salary negotiations.
The survey found some evidence to support that theory with senior female strategists in Canada now out-earning men by nearly 12%. While that change indicates progress at the senior level, there is still a clear pay gap in the industry at large, with men out-earning women by roughly 12% on average. In instances where race plays a role, the pay gap is compounded, with non-visible minority strategists earning 8% more than their visible minority counterparts.
Need for advocacy
At the same time, women are often penalised for assertive behaviour. “There has been a lot of research recently that says that women are advocating for themselves and asking for jobs and not getting them at the same level,” said Munroe.
“You're also going to need advocates in the company, and people that are senior like ourselves also need to be educating our executives that are making those decisions, looking at the talent and making sure that they are hiring and growing equally.”
“People who are encouraged to advocate for themselves need to be celebrated for advocating for themselves,” added SVP strategy at Diamond Jon Crowley.
Freelance an increasingly appealing option
Given the barriers to promotion and salary increase, female strategists may find freelance work an increasingly appealing option. The survey provided some data to support this theory with freelance respondents three times as likely to be female.
“Traditionally in our homes, we are the caregivers. And so as a woman finds her way through her career, it may be that there are some other pressures that are making the idea of being the master of your own domain a little more appealing,” said freelance strategist Angela Harvey.
Having spent half her career freelancing, she added that she’s been able to make the most money during economically tumultuous times, such as now, when agencies cannot afford to hire someone full-time.
While freelance salaries are more dependent on the economy, the salary survey found that freelancers are presently making on average 1.5x more than their full-time counterparts. The caveat is that there’s a growing concern that the supply of freelancers now exceeds demand..
“One thing that I think is really important to know when we talk about all the benefits of being a freelancer if you don't have the moxie to be able to negotiate, you're not gonna do very well for yourself,” cautioned Harvey. “You'll have all the freedom in the world, but you won't be earning what you could be.”
Conversations around compensation are becoming increasingly multifaceted
In the aftermath of the pandemic when remote work was normalised, flexibility is becoming a higher priority for job candidates, with 62% of respondents saying that a remote work policy is very important to them and 47% even say that they would rather make less money if it meant more freedom.
“Are you gonna demand that I've got to be in the agency six days a week, 12 hours a day? you can't do that anymore,” said Munroe. “So flexibility and wellbeing are definitely high on the list after cash. Beyond that, I think it's questions like ‘do you have things that support a healthy lifestyle, mental health benefits, flexible spending?’ Stuff like that really resonates with candidates, as well as access to technology and tools that they need to do their job.”
Ageism and lack of training are concerns for all strategists
The study also provided data on the rising concerns about ageism and the treatment of older workers in the industry, with 77% of respondents 36 and older saying they are worried about ageing out of their careers, as are 58% of respondents 18 to 35.
“For people in that age category, to have that high level of concern when they are so far away from being at that age demographic, that's actually shocking,” said Dressler. “That means we are not doing some things right and they see it and they are watching this coming for their own career, 10, 20, 25 years ahead.”
“I think it's a valid concern, but I don't find the reason to be concerned. Now with the AI workflow with the hybrid working environments, you can be as brilliant as you want to be,” said strategy director at Sid Lee Sumeet Sharma. I know there is a passive kind of pessimism that creeps in every now and then because of layoffs, but personally speaking, I think this is the right time to be creative. And age is not an excuse to not be.”
“I really do think it is also a state of mind,” agreed Dressler. “The more you stay on top of things, the more you understand AI next to your colleagues, the more you're playing with those tools. I think you're going to dominate the person next to you no matter what their age, and their drive.”
