This post was originally published on this site.
The recent period of slow hiring and uncertain job market conditions has led to worry across industries. But what does the hiring market look like for internal comms pros, and what are hiring managers looking for?
In data gathered by Kevin Blasko for StrictlyInternal.com, internal comms jobs leveled out in January 2025 from a December dip, but haven’t gained full momentum back from an October peak. Even amid the major RTO pushes going on at major employers like Meta and Amazon, the rate of remote internal comms jobs has remained steady. In October, the data found nearly 15% of internal comms job postings were fully remote, while January saw a slight dip to 13.7%. At any given time, the data also found that 12% of internal comms jobs postings were fully remote.
Blasko told Ragan that the data he’s seeing is showing consistent demand for skilled communicators, and that hot button issues like RTO aren’t necessarily impacting the internal comms market in an outsized way.
“Despite the press coverage, the data I have shows very little impact from RTO on internal communications roles,” he said.”
Additionally, the data revealed that Fortune 100 companies are continuing to invest in internal comms jobs, with 21 internal comms jobs among those companies posted in January 2025. Among these organizations were mainstays like Apple, PepsiCo and General Motors.
Blasko said that while that number of positions may not seem huge, he suggested looking past the number and instead focusing on the actions of these major companies.
“It’s an indicator that investment in internal comms is a priority for these larger companies, and that goes beyond just the Fortune 100,” he said.”
To dive deeper, we looked at what hiring managers are looking at when bringing on internal communicators and the skills and aptitudes internal comms pros are bringing to the table in 2025.
The need for adaptive skill sets and different approaches to talent
Ashley Dennison, founder and CEO of CommsConsultants.com told Ragan that in her conversations with top comms leaders, the open market is searching for communicators who are able to go beyond talking about what needs to be done to improve comms efforts. They need to be able to apply those skills themselves.
“The internal comms leaders I see hiring right now are looking for hands-on people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do the nitty gritty work,” she said. “The desire for senior level strategists and internal communications visionaries is far less pressing. But the need for people to keep the trains running on time will always be there. If you find yourself in the job market, now may be the moment to demonstrate your practical abilities, and your willingness to do the less glamorous work.”
Brooke Kruger, founder of KC Partners, told Ragan that in her analysis of the current internal comms hiring market, she’s seeing that AI skills are a big deal, but not just in a general sense — more specifically, they’re needed in a field that’s adapting to the fundamentals of how the job is done from new tech to larger societal shifts impacting communication norms. She added that the most adept communicators know how to use AI for tasks like a sentiment analysis or tone checks when pushing out these types of comms.
“You want to use AI to work in parallel with your efforts, not replace it,” she said. “But in these times of major shifts, it’s better to have that tool in your toolbelt than need it and lack it.”
Dennison said that while the exact path forward with automated tech for comms employees isn’t certain, this uncertainty might end up becoming a boon to freelancers as more companies may seek to contract out internal comms talent.
“More and more, leaders are viewing contract talent as the best way to adapt to constantly shifting sands, get the work done and take on as little risk as possible,” Dennison said. “I expect we’ll see more and more senior leaders bringing on contract-based internal communicators in the next 12-24 months. It’s an obvious solution in a highly uncertain time.”
Tying internal comms to the business
As uncertainty reigns in the overall hiring market, internal comms pros seeking to expand their teams need to tie their efforts to the trends of the business, especially when approval from leaders is needed.
Dennison said this means coming to the table with hard numbers on the surveys and internal content campaigns you run and packaging that information in an easy-to-use format for leaders, such as one-sheet briefs.
“Double down on the executive-friendly metrics that prove the business value for internal communications, strong culture and employee engagement,” Dennison said. “C-level leaders will only shift their thinking, open up hiring budget and support internal comms functions if they see the measurable value for their bottom lines.”
Dennison added that this is indicative of an overarching shift in internal comms priorities in the eyes of business leaders.
“In many ways we’ve moved out of the era of feel-good communications and culture work,” she said. “If we want to regain what we’ve lost and demonstrate our impact, we need the hard numbers to back up our claims.”Â
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.