Internal Communications Job Market Analysis: October 2024

Since May 2023, I’ve shared over 1,300 internal communications jobs in the US, UK and Canada. While my priority is sharing new jobs every week so job seekers can find their next great role, I've also been exploring ways to analyze this database of opportunities to uncover trends and insights.

In this article, I’ll review data points from the 295 internal communications jobs I shared in October 2024. In the future, I hope to provide more analysis on things like the trending topics and skills employers highlight in internal comms position descriptions, the most active keywords to help jobseekers optimize resumes for ATS, and more.

More opportunities in October

The internal communications job market showed significant growth in October, with weekly job postings increasing 19.2% compared to September.

The headline numbers look impressive—295 jobs in October vs. 198 in September. But October had five weeks versus September's four. Looking at weekly averages provides a clearer picture: 59 jobs per week in October compared to 49.5 in September, representing real but more modest growth of 19.2%.

Remote on the rise?

Despite the volume increase, the global distribution of roles did not significantly change in October, with 56-58% of all roles in Strictly Internal in the US, while the UK held steady at 21%.

The most notable shift? Remote roles jumped from 11% to 15% of all positions, with 45 remote internal comms roles in October. Since Amazon’s RTO announcement on September 16, there’s been plenty of speculation on whether it would stifle new remote roles…so far with internal comms jobs, the opposite has been true.

Internal comms beyond the big cities

It’s no surprise that major business centers like London and New York feature many internal comms vacancies in any given month. Comparing October to September, there were some significant swings, and perhaps some surprises in the 5-10 cities.

The big cities don’t tell the whole story though: there were internal comms positions available in 128 different locations in total, spanning the US, UK and Canada. In the US, the opportunities were dispersed almost equally across the South, Northeast, and Midwest (41 positions each).

Despite having fewer positions open in October, the West showed strong representation in tech-focused cities.

A look at job levels

Manager-level internal comms roles accounted for exactly 48.5% of roles in both months. There was a shift toward specialist roles (increasing from 21.7% to 25.6%) and away from senior leadership positions, with VP/Senior Director roles dropping from 4.5% to 2%. That said, there are fewer senior-level roles in organizations, and presumably, some senior-level openings are filled by recruiters.

The industries hiring the most internal comms pros

Top 5 industries hiring internal communicators in October:

1. Technology & Digital: 30 positions (10.2%)

2. Financial Services: 26 positions (8.8%)

3. Manufacturing & Industrial: 26 positions (8.8%)

4. Healthcare & Life Sciences: 23 positions (7.8%)

5. Retail & Consumer: 13 positions (4.4%)

Technology companies led hiring in both months, but healthcare showed the most dramatic growth - more than tripling its share of job postings. Manufacturing and retail also significantly increased their hiring, suggesting broader industry adoption of strategic IC roles.

Fortune 100 increases hiring

October saw more concentrated hiring, with several companies posting multiple internal comms roles. JPMorgan Chase led with 5 positions, while Starbucks, Honeywell, and Apple each posted 4 roles. This contrasts with September, where only Amazon and JLL posted more than two positions.

1. JPMorgan Chase: 5 positions

2. Starbucks: 4 positions

3. Honeywell: 4 positions

4. Apple: 4 positions

5. Amazon: 3 positions

Fortune 100 companies opened up more internal comms roles in October compared to September, 18 Fortune 100 companies posted 29 roles in October, a 50% increase in Fortune 100 companies hiring and a 93% increase in Fortune 100 job postings compared to September.