Ageism drains ad talent as $183m freelance spend heads offshore

The Experience Advocacy Taskforce (EAT) and freelance marketplace Unjumble have partnered to connect experienced Australian advertising and marketing professionals with SMEs, as an estimated $183 million a year is spent offshore on freelance work. The partnership aims to keep more of that spend in Australia while creating new pathways for senior industry talent.

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EAT’s The Silent Exit research found more than half of advertising and media industry exits occur between the ages of 45 and 54. Involuntary redundancy was identified as the leading reason people leave.

The research also found many experienced professionals remain open to full-time, part-time, freelance and flexible work. EAT and Unjumble see an opportunity to connect that talent with Australia’s 2.6 million small and medium businesses.

A $183 million disconnect

Greg “Sparrow” Graham, Founder of the Experience Advocacy Taskforce, said the industry was losing experienced talent too early.

“Advertising and media are losing too much experience too early. But the skills built in this industry don’t disappear when someone leaves an agency role. Strategy, brand thinking, commercial judgement, marketing problem-solving, media, social and more are incredibly valuable to Australian businesses.”

Graham said the estimated offshore freelance spend highlighted a gap between Australian businesses looking for expertise and experienced local marketers seeking meaningful work.

“At the same time, we’re seeing an estimated $183 million a year flow offshore for freelance work. That’s an extraordinary disconnect. There is experienced Australian marketing talent looking for meaningful work, and there are Australian businesses looking for marketing expertise; we need to do a better job of connecting the two.”

Unjumble targets local freelance work

Unjumble allows Australian businesses to post projects, compare bids from local freelancers and manage conversations, files and staged payments through the platform. It has more than 400 registered Australian freelancers.

The marketplace also holds project funds through Stripe until work is approved. Freelancers can bid based on the value of their expertise rather than competing solely on price.

Zac Kelly, Founder of Unjumble, said the partnership would help bring more experienced advertising and marketing professionals onto the platform while giving SMEs access to local expertise.

“There’s a huge amount of experience sitting within Australia’s advertising and marketing community, and there are millions of small businesses that need exactly that expertise.

“We believe the best work often comes from people who understand and have reputation in the local market. Partnering with EAT helps us bring more experienced marketing and advertising talent onto the platform and gives small businesses access to people who have spent years solving real brand, media and business problems.”

Keeping more work in Australia

Kelly said the partnership also had a broader economic aim: reducing the amount Australian businesses spend on offshore freelance marketing services.

“We also want to keep more of that work here in Australia. If Australian businesses are going to spend money on freelance marketing expertise, why shouldn’t more of that investment stay in the local economy?”

For EAT, the partnership also challenges the idea that freelance, fractional or project-based work is a fallback for experienced professionals leaving permanent agency roles. Graham said those skills remained valuable to businesses that may not need, or be ready to hire, a full-time senior marketer.

“We need to stop thinking about experienced people as yesterday’s workforce. Their experience is an asset and Australian businesses need it.”