The good news from marketing recruitment agency Alternatives in its latest survey is that a quarter of its medium-to-large clients have added to their marketing personnel in the last year.

"Companies are growing their marketing teams, with opportunities mostly at mid-management level," says Alternatives managing director Sandra Lawler.

The bad news is that budgets continue to be tightly managed, with salaries only increasing in specialist areas such as digital, loyalty, data analytics, insights and proposition development.

At the most senior levels, incomes remain eye-wateringly high.

A marketing director in the banking and insurance industry can earn as much as €190,000, while a similar executive in the telecoms sector can command €180,000, according to the Alternatives salary survey.

At the bottom end of the scale, marketing salaries in those industries can be as low as €30,000-€35,000.

Lawler says recent trends have been encouraging. “Talent is on the move – a sure sign of confidence returning to the market.”