What the Data Really Says About Morale, Progression and Burnout
Episode 164 with guest Charlotte Rogers, Marketing Week’s Deputy Managing Editor and Head of Insight
We’re kicking off a brand new mini-series about how marketing roles are changing and its impact, and in this episode we discuss this as well as shine a light on widespread and worrying challenges facing marketers today.
Based on the findings from Marketing Week’s 2026 Career and Salary Survey (2,300+ respondents) we’re discussing expanding remits, senior roles disappearing, burnout, imposter syndrome, stalled progression, a persistent understanding gap at board level – and what we need to do about it.
Joining Abby is Marketing Week’s Charlotte Rogers, Deputy Managing Editor and Head of Insight at Marketing Week. Having worked at Marketing Week for a decade, she is fascinated writing about the marketing industry both in the UK and worldwide and leads on the publication’s proprietary research projects, as well as the wider features, and is the co-host of the Marketing Week podcast.
Key takeaways
- Our marketing profession is in crisis… Marketing roles are expanding and restructuring, often without clear resource or support. Half of respondents said their team had restructured and senior leaders are being cut and not replaced.
- Burnout is a real risk… Many marketers feel overwhelmed (65%), undervalued, questioning their skills, facing imposter syndrome, and emotionally exhausted. 53% no longer enjoy work that used to engage them.
- There is a persistent lack of understanding of marketing’s true value within organisations and marketers are feeling the pressure to defend it… leading to not speaking up about mental health because they’re carrying their own issues AND the weight of the profession’s perception.
- We have a progression crisis… 70% of marketers saw no career progression in the past year. It’s hitting parents and women the hardest as 44.6% of mothers said being a parent had harmed their progression, vs 7.6% of fathers.
- What do we need to do… the only way out of the cycle is for marketers to start advocating for themselves, setting boundaries, and being honest about what is and isn’t deliverable. It’s not easy but marketing leaders need to speak up for themselves and marketers in their care.
