Why The Ad Industry Is Losing "Full-Stack" Talent

A recent article by Chris Messina, a developer formerly at Google, observed that employees possessing blended skills, such as the ability to play multiple roles on a team, are required in the digital space. Messina describes this prototypical employee as “full-stack.”

The same description fits those who work in today’s ad industry. The challenge to be “full-stack” for those beginning careers is a heavy burden. The demands of young talent have dissuaded many from pursuing careers in our industry.

Advertising was once the career for those who wanted to create and be paid well for doing so. Today, we fail to compete with industries that reward innovative thinking as we once did.

Messina’s view of the digital space’s future, one filled with full-stack employees, is concerning for the industry. When it comes to quality, the adage that “a jack-of-all-trades is the master of none” holds in any field. With few exceptions, the ad industry has embraced the full-stack mentality, and it has frayed our quality.

Both agencies and academia have a role to play in correcting the situation. Agencies need to replace internship programs with an apprenticeship model. Academia needs to improve the curriculum development process. The challenge for education to stay at the same rate of change as the industry isn’t impossible. 

A recent Pew Research Center study showed that most students do not believe college helps them prepare for a career and is not worth the cost. Another study by the AAAAs notes the loss of talent because it invests too little in employee growth.

If our industry does not attract the brightest creative talent, advertising agencies will further devolve into a vendor’s role. If academia does not offer a relevant curriculum that prepares them to enter the industry, creative talent will seek more effective ways to be educated for an advertising career.

It’s time the advertising industry reclaimed the heritage of creativity. To do so, the industry and academia should become “full-stack” when it comes to attracting and developing the talent we need.