You have pivoted. You did what you were supposed to do. Perhaps reluctantly, perhaps eagerly. Maybe you were pushed. Maybe you gleefully jumped. But over the last several years, 66% of you have crossed to The Other Side. You left traditional media for roles in “content.” For marketing. For internal and external comms. For thought leadership. You learned the lingo. The acronyms. The corporate culture. And yet… here you are. Unmoored.
With an unsteady economy, a wobbly job market, and AI elbowing its way into everything, editors are now asking: Was it worth it? Is any corner of the industry truly stable? Is thriving still the goal? Or is staying afloat enough?
More than 350 editors responded to my annual report this year, the largest dataset yet. (btw, I define “editor” as anyone who creates, manages, or strategizes content across editorial or marketing.) What you shared reflects a clear mood shift: not just uncertainty, but exhaustion, burnout, and even rage. It’s not pretty. But it is honest. And it tells the real story of what this industry has done to the people who power it.
Key takeaways
★ The pivot worked … until it didn’t. Editors report better pay and flexibility outside of media, but the old problems followed them: shrinking teams, heavier workloads, and fears of layoffs.
★ Editors are exhausted.A majority of respondents report feeling burned out or uneasy, signaling an industry running on fumes.
★ The job market is now a deep dark hole. Editors are motivated and flexible, but the system is failing them. Nearly two-thirds of editors are actively looking for full-time work. Nearly half (46%) have been searching for 7+ months and 49% say they are close to “giving up.”
★ Stability has replaced ambition as the new career goal. Editors aren’t chasing prestige anymore. (Let alone town cars and expense accounts!) Instead they’re after health insurance, humane workloads, and roles that won’t disappear overnight.
★ In one year, AI moved from “interesting” to “unavoidable.” Adoption is high at around 60%. But trust is low. Training is scarce. Editors are learning on the fly, knowing that those who don’t adapt risk being left behind.
★ For six years, I asked: If you could work anywhere, where would it be? Dreams once clustered around prestige media (Condé Nast, Hearst), big tech (Apple, Google, Netflix), and mission-driven brands. But this year’s results were different. Out of 350+ editors came more than 250 different brands. The dream job is no longer one destination — it’s hundreds of personalized escape routes.
Chandra Turner is the founder of The Talent Fairy, a boutique recruiting agency that specializes in placing editorial and content marketing talent for brands, non-profits, and media. She also serves as a career coach for editors, writers, and brand storytellers.
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