It's a new and accelerating trend in Australia's ongoing talent shortage, as the shift in communications spend from traditional to experiential and digital communications continues.

This significant shift is driven by several factors. One is the pressure to supply a measurable ROI; secondly, broadband, email and high-end mobile technology have reached mainstream use in most market; and finally, the heavy investments by companies over past five years in customer databases, CRM systems and web content management systems.

Companies are now on the lookout for multi-skilled people with this type of experience. These are the most sought after staff and the most scarce. Ambitious marketers as well as creatives will need to gain experience across a range of disciplines in order to remain relevant and employable in the coming years.

The biggest barrier to this growth will be attracting and retaining quality staff.

"It is all about retention. The so-called war for talent no longer goes far enough. The real battle is internal - keeping good people and growing key staff for the future," said Aquent International CEO, Greg Savage.

"Companies must nurture and further train their staff to retain them. If they are not expanding their skill sets, they will look for a company that does that for them."

The recently-released Aquent Orange Book (previously called The Asia Pacific Salary Monitor), provides accurate salary information for hundreds of staff categories, detailed statistics on revenue growth, staff retention strategies, anticipated salary increases, and identifies employment and growth trends.

Aquent commissioned independent, Hong Kong-based research company WebDNA to conduct the research across 15 countries - seven in Asia Pacific. Overall, more than 5,000 valid responses were collected from marketing, advertising and creative industries in the region.

Other key findings in the report include:

• Next year is set to be a strong growth year with more than 86% of Australian companies surveyed expecting revenue growth at an average of 20%
• Staff turnover in marketing departments is above 20% in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide
• 81% of Melbourne companies surveyed predicted a revenue increase for 2006 - this is down from 91% last year
• Brisbane continues to attract interstate employees despite lower salaries than Sydney and Melbourne. Interstate candidates appear willing to forego financial rewards for lifestyle and other non-monetary benefits
• Adelaide market offers more permanent and less freelance positions
• Perth recorded the strongest revenue growth predictions at an average of 26% with 92% of companies surveyed saying they expected revenue increases in 2006
• More than 50% of companies are increasing salaries for permanent staff - 6% average increase
• A contract staff increase is expected across all Australian markets
• There is an increased willingness to recruit from interstate

Members of AGDA are entitled to a free copy of the Aquent Orange Book as a result of our partnership between Aquent and AGDA. Simply call Aquent in their Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney office on 1800 672 625, ask to speak to one of their creative Agents and quote your AGDA membership number.

All survey participants are being sent a copy of the Aquent Orange Book in November. We'd like to thank you for your patience as we had experienced delays in printing the report.