Last updated: 24 August 2026

Salary remains central to attracting PR, communications and marketing professionals in Ireland. But salary alone does not determine whether a strong candidate accepts an offer, remains engaged or starts looking elsewhere.

Spencer Recruitment’s specialist market evidence points to a broader employment equation: competitive pay gets candidates into the conversation, while work-life balance, usable flexibility, practical benefits and career progression help determine whether they move and whether they stay.

For employers, that means retention cannot be treated as a benefits-list exercise. The strongest employment offers combine four things:

• competitive and transparent pay;
• a credible hybrid or flexible working model;
• benefits that provide practical financial and personal value;
• and a role people can see themselves progressing in sustainably.

What benefits help employers attract and retain PR, communications and marketing talent in Ireland?

Competitive salary, pension, sick leave, hybrid working and clear annual leave form the foundation. Health insurance, flexible hours, additional leave, development and sustainable workload can differentiate employers and strengthen retention.

Our Salary & Survey Report suggests employers should think about their offer in three layers: expected foundations, genuine differentiators and long-term retention drivers.

The employer challenge is to identify which parts of the overall employment proposition are weakening attraction, acceptance or retention.

Key findings from Spencer’s specialist market data

What is really driving retention in PR, communications and marketing?

Salary matters most, but Spencer’s specialist research found work-life balance was the clearest factor separating people intending to leave from those intending to stay. Retention therefore depends on the experience of the job, not only the package.

In our research, salary ranked first as a contributor to job satisfaction across experience cohorts, with work-life balance second. The survey also found that 36% of respondents planned to change jobs, while a further 36% said they might.

Most importantly for employers, work-life balance was the clearest differentiator between those intending to leave and those intending to stay.

That matters because many roles within Spencer’s specialist markets naturally involve periods of pressure.

PR agencies can face pitch cycles, client deadlines and reactive media activity. In-house communications teams may support employees, senior leadership, journalists and external stakeholders at the same time. Marketing teams can face campaign deadlines, commercial targets, content demands and reporting pressure. Public affairs roles may involve policy deadlines, events and stakeholder activity outside conventional office hours.

Pressure itself is therefore not necessarily the problem. The risk emerges when pressure becomes the normal operating model.

Employers should ask:

• Is the role carrying the work of more than one specialist?
• Is the team permanently operating at peak capacity?
• Are deadlines repeatedly urgent because of insufficient resources?
• Is hybrid working respected in practice?
• Are out-of-hours expectations predictable and proportionate?
• Can employees take annual leave without returning to an unmanageable backlog?
• Do managers identify sustained workload problems early?

A strong benefits package can support retention. It cannot permanently compensate for a role that is structurally unsustainable.

Is salary still the most important factor for candidates?

Yes. Salary remains the main foundation of a competitive employment offer. Benefits, flexibility and progression can strengthen a package, but they should not be used to disguise materially below-market pay.

Employers should benchmark salary before a role goes to market, taking account of:

• seniority;
• functional discipline;
• location;
• team responsibility;
• budget ownership;
• specialist expertise;
• agency versus in-house context;
• and the true scope of the role.

Wider benchmarks across marketing, PR, communications and digital roles are available in our Marketing, PR & Communications Salary & Hiring Guide.

Salary transparency also affects attraction.

According to IrishJobs’ 2026 salary and benefits research, 72% of candidates avoid roles without salary information, 85% are more likely to apply when a salary range is included and 41% rule out roles without flexible-working options.

Publishing or discussing a realistic range early can help employers:

• attract candidates whose expectations are broadly aligned;
• reduce avoidable late-stage withdrawal;
• demonstrate that the role has been properly benchmarked;
• and have a more credible conversation about the total package.

The practical rule is straightforward: benefits are most persuasive when they sit on top of competitive pay, not when they are presented as compensation for a weak salary.

Is hybrid working still an employee benefit in Ireland?

Hybrid working is increasingly an expected part of the employment model rather than a standout perk. Spencer found 85% of respondents working hybrid, most commonly with two or three remote days per week.

Spencer’s survey found:

• 85% of respondents were working in hybrid arrangements;
• 10% were fully remote;
• 5% were fully on-site;
• and two or three remote days were the most common hybrid arrangements.

That does not mean every employer must offer identical flexibility. Agency collaboration, leadership responsibility, client work, events, media activity and team structure can all affect how frequently a person genuinely needs to be on site.

But employers should recognise that office requirements form part of the overall value proposition.

A role requiring four or five fixed office days can still attract candidates. However, it may be competing against opportunities that offer lower commuting costs, greater autonomy and more control over personal routines.

The CIPD HR Practices in Ireland 2026 report provides a wider Irish employer perspective. It found that 91% of surveyed organisations believed hybrid working supported attraction, 92% said it improved retention and 88% associated it with improved wellbeing.

The strongest employer question is therefore:

Is our working model competitive, clear and genuinely usable for the people we are trying to hire?

A credible working policy should explain:

• expected office days;
• whether those days are fixed or flexible;
• how client meetings and events affect attendance;
• whether working hours can flex;
• what happens during unusually busy periods;
• and whether managers apply the policy consistently.

Calling a role hybrid while frequently changing the practical attendance requirement can damage trust before a candidate has even joined.

Which benefits do PR, communications and marketing professionals value most?

We found health insurance, pension contribution, dental insurance, life insurance or death-in-service cover, and income protection among the most valued hard benefits. Actual provision remains uneven across employers.

The gap between what people value and what they actually receive creates useful opportunities for employers.

These figures do not mean every employer needs to provide every benefit. Organisation size, sector, seniority and available budget will influence what is realistic. They do show that candidates value benefits with clear, usable value.

Health insurance, pensions and income protection provide financial security. Additional annual leave creates time. Flexible hours create control over the working day.

Those benefits tend to be easier for candidates to value than novelty perks whose practical usefulness is limited.

Which employee benefits are now basics and which genuinely differentiate an offer?

Salary, pension, sick leave, hybrid policy and clear annual leave increasingly form the baseline. Health insurance, flexible hours, 25+ days’ leave, income protection, stronger parental support and credible development can differentiate good offers.

Employers should avoid describing every component of a package as a special benefit. A clearer distinction is useful.

Increasingly expected basics

• competitive base salary;
• pension contribution;
• paid sick leave;
• a defined hybrid or office policy;
• a clear annual-leave entitlement.

Potential differentiators

• health insurance;
• flexible start and finish times;
• more than the market-standard annual leave;
• income protection;
• dental cover;
• enhanced parental support;
• funded professional qualifications;
• structured mentoring;
• AI and digital upskilling;
• credible internal progression.

Retention factors that are not conventional benefits

• manageable workload;
• quality of management;
• clear role scope;
• appropriate resources;
• meaningful decision-making authority;
• realistic out-of-hours expectations;
• and genuine career movement.

An employer can therefore have a long benefits list and still have a weak employee proposition. The quality of the offer depends on how these elements work together.

How much annual leave is competitive in PR, communications and marketing?

Twenty-five days is an important market reference point. It was the most common annual-leave allocation in Spencer’s survey, while people receiving 25 or more days were more prevalent among those rating their benefits highly.

Annual leave reported in our survey ranged from 20 to 37 days, with 25 days the most common allocation. There was also a notable relationship between leave and overall benefits satisfaction.

Among respondents who rated their benefits highly, 62% received 25 or more days of annual leave, compared with 38% among those who rated their benefits poorly or as average.

That does not prove annual leave alone determines satisfaction. It does show that leave forms part of how employees evaluate the practical quality of their overall package.

Employers should also assess whether staff can use the entitlement meaningfully. A generous stated allowance is less valuable when:

• leave is repeatedly interrupted;
• teams are too small to provide cover;
• employees are expected to monitor messages while away;
• or work simply accumulates until they return.

The strongest leave proposition therefore combines a competitive allowance with a culture that allows people to take it.

What employer pension contribution is typical in this market?

Our research recorded an average employer pension contribution of 8%, with 5% and 10% among the common contribution levels. Pension becomes increasingly important as candidates assess the long-term value of a role.

Pension is one of the most common and highly valued parts of the benefits package. However, employers should not assume that simply writing “pension” in a job advertisement communicates its value.

Candidates may want to know:

• the employer contribution percentage;
• whether employee matching is required;
• when eligibility begins;
• whether contributions increase with service;
• whether the scheme applies during probation;
• and whether different seniority levels receive different terms.

A competitive pension can lose much of its attraction value when the details are unclear. Employers should present the actual contribution rather than treating pension provision as a binary yes-or-no benefit.

Does health insurance help attract experienced marketing and communications candidates?

Yes. Health insurance was the highest-ranked hard benefit in our specialist survey, yet only 44% of respondents received it, giving employers that provide meaningful cover a clear potential point of difference.

Health insurance is particularly relevant when a candidate is comparing two otherwise similar opportunities.

It may not compensate for a significant salary gap, but it can strengthen the overall assessment of:

• financial security;
• package quality;
• employer investment;
• and long-term value.

Employers should again communicate the detail, as candidates may want to understand:

• whether the policy covers the employee only;
• whether dependants can be included;
• the level of cover;
• when eligibility begins;
• whether upgrades are available;
• and how much of the cost is employer-funded.

The same principle applies to dental cover, income protection and life assurance. The value of the benefit lies in what it actually provides, not simply its name on a job specification.

Why don’t office perks and wellbeing benefits fix retention problems?

Cosmetic perks cannot compensate for poor job design. Employees may appreciate social or wellbeing initiatives, but unresolved workload, weak management, limited progression and inflexible working conditions remain more material retention risks.

Free food, social events, branded gifts and wellbeing programmes can all contribute positively to culture. The problem arises when they are used to address issues they cannot solve.

A wellbeing programme will not fix:

• repeated out-of-hours demands;
• permanent understaffing;
• weak management;
• an unclear career path;
• a role that has expanded without support;
• or a supposedly flexible policy that is not respected in practice.

The strongest retention benefits tend to provide employees with one of three things:

Security

Salary, pension, healthcare, paid sick leave and income protection.

Control

Flexible hours, predictable hybrid working and greater autonomy over where and when appropriate work is completed.

Sustainability

Annual leave, manageable workload, professional development, good management and credible progression.

Before adding another perk, employers should ask whether these three foundations are strong.

Do employees at different career stages want different benefits?

Yes. Career growth matters more to earlier-career professionals, while benefits become more important among people with seven or more years’ experience. Employers should adapt the proposition to the seniority being hired.

Earlier-career professionals

Earlier-career professionals are often evaluating the development value of a role as much as its immediate package.

Priorities can include:

• structured learning;
• mentoring;
• professional qualifications;
• good line management;
• clear promotion criteria;
• meaningful responsibility;
• and opportunities to build digital and AI-enabled skills.

An employer that cannot explain how someone will develop may struggle to retain ambitious early-career talent even if the starting salary is reasonable.

Mid-career professionals

Mid-career candidates are often balancing progression with a growing need for stability and flexibility.

They may place greater weight on:

• salary progression;
• pension;
• health insurance;
• flexible working;
• role autonomy;
• management responsibility;
• and whether the role is a genuine career step.

They are also more likely to recognise when a role has been under-scoped or when several specialist disciplines have been combined without suitable pay or support.

Senior professionals

Senior candidates tend to assess the whole operating environment.

Alongside salary and conventional benefits, they may evaluate:

• decision-making authority;
• team quality;
• headcount and resources;
• access to the executive team;
• expectations from the CEO or board;
• office requirements and commute;
• organisational appetite for change;
• and whether the title matches the true mandate.

At senior level, authority and role design are part of the employment proposition.

A communications or marketing leader carrying enterprise-level accountability without the authority or resources to act may not remain, regardless of the benefits package.

Why do good people leave even when their salary is competitive?

Competitive pay cannot solve every retention problem. Irish employer evidence points to career progression, cost of living, commute, work-life balance and workload or burnout as significant reasons employees voluntarily leave organisations.

CIPD Ireland found that 80% of organisations were experiencing difficulty retaining talent.

The main reported drivers of voluntary turnover included:

These findings align closely with our own specialist evidence.

A competitive salary may encourage an employee to remain for a period. It is less likely to resolve:

• a missing career path;
• a role that has grown beyond its intended scope;
• an unsustainable commute;
• persistent workload pressure;
• limited authority;
• or a lack of confidence in management.

Retention efforts should therefore begin with diagnosis. Employers should not wait for an exit interview to discover what is wrong. Regular career conversations, role-scope reviews and workload discussions can identify problems before resignation becomes the only point at which employees feel able to raise them.

How can employers improve retention without simply increasing salary?

Start by fixing role design, flexibility, progression and workload. Salary must remain competitive, but retention improves when employees can see a sustainable future in the role and believe the employer understands what matters to them.

Five areas deserve particular attention.

1. Make progression specific

Avoid vague statements such as “there is plenty of room to grow”.

Explain:

• what the next role is;
• what skills are required to reach it;
• how promotion decisions are made;
• when compensation is reviewed;
• and what examples of internal progression already exist.

2. Review workload honestly

Assess whether the role is realistically deliverable within the available headcount, hours and support.

This matters particularly in smaller marketing and communications teams where employers may expect one person to cover several specialisms.

3. Protect flexibility in practice

A policy has limited retention value if individual managers routinely override it.

Employees judge flexibility by lived experience rather than HR wording.

4. Invest in skills that increase career value

Professional development can include:

• recognised qualifications;
• conference or training budgets;
• mentoring;
• leadership development;
• digital skills;
• data and measurement capability;
• and responsible AI use.

5. Review the total package regularly

A benefits package designed several years ago may no longer reflect what current employees or candidates value.

Review market competitiveness before retention pressure becomes a resignation problem.

What should employers fix before their next marketing, PR or communications hire?

Before recruiting, employers should benchmark salary, define the real work model, clarify progression, review workload and present the full package early. Many candidate-attraction problems begin with role and offer design before sourcing starts.

1. Benchmark salary against the actual remit

Do not benchmark the job title in isolation.

A Communications Manager responsible for media relations, internal communications, policy monitoring, executive advice and crisis response may not be a conventional manager-level hire.

Similarly, a Marketing Manager expected to own brand, digital, CRM, content, analytics, events and AI-enabled workflows may be carrying several specialist remits.

Benchmark what the person will actually own.

2. Define the working model honestly

Agree office expectations before the search begins.

If attendance changes because of clients, campaigns or events, explain that rather than presenting a more flexible model during attraction.

3. Separate expected benefits from genuine differentiators

Know what candidates may see as basic market expectations and where the package has something distinctive to offer.

Do not over-sell table-stakes benefits as exceptional.

4. Make progression visible

Candidates should understand:

• the likely next step;
• the development available;
• the expected review process;
• and the decision criteria for promotion.

5. Audit the workload

A new hire should not become a permanent workaround for deeper resourcing or prioritisation problems.

Establish what the role will own, what it will not own and what support will be available.

6. Present the complete package early

Candidates should understand the core elements before the final offer stage:

• base salary;
• bonus or commission;
• pension;
• annual leave;
• healthcare;
• office expectations;
• flexibility;
• and development.

7. Design the hiring process around candidate trust

The employment proposition is judged through the recruitment process as well as through the offer. Changing requirements, unexplained delays and inconsistent interviewers can provide candidates with an early impression of what working inside the organisation may feel like.

Our Hiring Manager’s Checklist provides a wider framework for reviewing role scope, candidate experience and offer design before beginning a search.

How should employers benchmark a PR, communications or marketing package?

Benchmark the total offer, not base salary alone. Discipline, seniority, location, office requirements, role scope, specialist skills, pension, healthcare, leave, bonus and progression all influence how candidates judge an opportunity.

A useful package review should consider:

• function and specialist discipline;
• seniority and reporting line;
• agency versus in-house experience;
• Dublin versus regional location;
• office attendance requirements;
• commuting implications;
• team and budget responsibility;
• sector or regulatory complexity;
• scarce specialist capability;
• bonus or commission potential;
• pension contribution;
• healthcare and protection benefits;
• annual leave;
• flexible hours;
• development support;
• and credible progression after appointment.

The strongest package is not necessarily the one containing the greatest number of perks. It is the package that is:

✓ market-aligned,

✓ relevant to the target candidate,

✓ credible for the scope and

✓ sustainable once the employee starts.

One candidate may prefer a slightly lower base salary where the role provides better progression, flexibility and security. Another may require a higher base because the role carries greater accountability, commuting cost or office attendance.

Employers should avoid guessing which trade-offs their target candidates will make.

Specialist market benchmarking allows the employment proposition to be tested before the role goes fully to market.

The main lesson for employers

Salary gets candidates to engage. Retention depends on the total experience: competitive pay, usable flexibility, practical benefits, credible progression and a workload that employees can sustain.

For employers recruiting PR, communications and marketing professionals in Ireland, the strongest total offer is likely to combine:

• transparent, market-aligned salary;
• a clear hybrid or flexible working model;
• pension and paid sick leave;
• competitive annual leave;
• relevant health or protection benefits;
• visible development and career progression;
• clear role scope;
• and sustainable workload expectations.

Employers need to know:

where their package meets the market, where it genuinely differentiates the organisation, and where the day-to-day experience risks undermining the promises made during recruitment.

Spencer Recruitment works with employers across marketing, PR, communications, public affairs and corporate affairs to define roles, benchmark salary and benefits, test candidate expectations and build offers that reflect the specialist talent market.

Speak to Spencer Recruitment about salary and benefits benchmarking for your next hire.

Frequently asked questions

What benefits do marketing professionals expect in Ireland?

Marketing professionals increasingly expect market-aligned salary, pension, paid sick leave, clear annual leave and a credible flexible or hybrid work model where the role allows it. Health insurance, additional leave, flexible hours and development support can strengthen an offer.

What benefits do PR and communications professionals value most?

Spencer’s survey found health insurance, employer pension contribution, dental insurance, life insurance or death-in-service cover and income protection among the most valued hard benefits. Work-life balance and practical flexibility are also important parts of the overall proposition.

Is hybrid working important when recruiting communications professionals?

Yes. Spencer found 85% of its survey respondents working hybrid, while broader Irish evidence links hybrid working with attraction and retention. Employers can require office presence, but the model should be clear and competitive for the talent being targeted.

How many remote days do candidates expect?

Spencer’s survey found two and three remote days per week were the most common hybrid patterns. That is a useful market signal rather than a universal rule; the right arrangement still depends on the genuine requirements of the role.

Is 25 days’ annual leave competitive in Ireland?

Twenty-five days was the most common annual-leave allocation in Spencer’s survey. Respondents receiving 25 or more days were also more prevalent among those rating their benefits highly, although leave should be assessed as part of the overall package.

What employer pension contribution is typical?

Spencer’s specialist survey recorded an average employer contribution of 8%, with 5% and 10% among common contribution levels. Employers should benchmark the specific role and make the actual contribution clear during recruitment.

Does health insurance make an employment offer more attractive?

Health insurance was the highest-ranked hard benefit in Spencer’s survey, while 44% of respondents received it. This gap means meaningful employer-funded healthcare can provide a useful point of difference between otherwise similar opportunities.

What is the biggest retention risk in PR, communications and marketing?

There is no single cause, but Spencer’s research identified work-life balance as the clearest factor separating respondents intending to leave from those intending to stay. Career progression, commute, workload and burnout also appear in wider Irish retention evidence.

Can better benefits compensate for a lower salary?

Benefits can improve the value of an overall package, but they should not be used to disguise materially below-market pay. The strongest offers combine competitive salary with relevant benefits, flexibility, progression and sustainable role design.

How can employers improve retention without raising every salary?

Start by diagnosing why people might leave. Clearer progression, better workload design, genuinely usable flexibility, development opportunities, stronger management and more relevant benefits can all improve the employment proposition alongside appropriate market-aligned pay.

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