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A couple weeks ago, I ran a poll asking do you currently have a job. We have just under 400 responses, which I would consider a great sampling, and I wanted to share those results with you.
According to our survey, 7% of search marketers are out of a job and consider themselves unemployed. The current unemployment rate is 9%, so it looks like the SEM space is a bit better off, but not all that much better off.
65% of the respondents said they are an employee of a company, while 25% said they are self-employed. 7% said they are currently unemployed and 2% answered "other." The other responses included:
- Employee and Self Employed
- Retired
- at a startup working for equity...no pay yet
- Both Employee and Self-Employed
- yes - employee, i also do web development and graphic design
- yes, employee, but barely. layoffs keep coming. kind of scard.
- Was employed, quit, now self-employed and better off
- Freelance but looking for permanent
I was kind of hoping the responses would be a bit more encouraging in this industry. I was hoping to see closer to 4 or 5%. Why? Well, in this industry, even if you are out of a job, many can do begin their own job, work for themselves and put together a livable income. The 25% figure for those who are self-employed seemed high to me, but not high for this industry. Last figure I saw was from 2007, where the overall US self-employment rate was at just under 9%.
Do you think the figures above, i.e. 7% unemployment in the search marketing industry, sounds right? Do these numbers shock you in any way?
Forum discussion continued at Search Engine Watch Forums.
