The great reshuffle: Why trust is driving marketing layoffs, restructures and hiring strategies… and what marketers need to do about it
Something has shifted in B2B marketing, and you can see it most clearly not in campaigns but in careers. Teams are getting smaller. Budgets are tighter. Roles are being rewritten or removed altogether. And many marketers — including very senior ones — are discovering that the recruitment market now operates by very different rules to the ones that shaped their careers.
In a recent episode of the ‘Trust & Influence in B2B’ podcast, I sat down with John Watton, one of the UK’s most experienced B2B tech marketers who’s been directly in the recruitment market, and Tom Howe from Jefferson Locke, who has a front-row seat on how hiring is changing across the industry. What emerged was a conversation not just about jobs, but about what organisations trust marketing to own, what they trust it to influence — and what they no longer trust it with at all.
A correction — but not the one you think
The instinct is to see the current market as a downturn, but Tom Howe offered an important reframe. “I don’t think it’s the right words to call it the perfect storm,” he said. “What we’re witnessing is a generational change — a realignment of marketing teams and what is expected of them.” The numbers bear this out: recruitment activity surged 200-300% during the COVID years globally, and what we’re seeing now is a return to pre-2018 levels. That’s not catastrophic — it’s normal. But the whiplash from one extreme to the other is real and painful.
John agreed that a correction was always coming, but noted that AI has massively accelerated it. “It’s not the end of marketing,” he said. “It’s just the opportunity to reset and then build for the next phase.” The pragmatism is welcome, but it doesn’t soften the reality on the ground: roles disappearing mid-process, lengthy interviews leading nowhere, and a market where even the most experienced marketers are struggling to find traction.
A crisis of confidence
Beneath the hiring data lies something more fundamental — an identity crisis around what marketing actually is and what seniority it requires. John was candid about what he’s seeing. Companies say they want to build brand awareness and reposition, then ask for leads in the next three to four weeks. They want everything, they don’t want to pay what they used to, and they’re feeling their way through a landscape they don’t fully understand.
The AI dimension makes this worse. John described real scenarios where CEOs sit in interviews asking why a marketing plan takes 90 days when they’ve just produced one in ChatGPT in five minutes. “You’re against that backdrop of ‘how hard can it be?'” he said — a dynamic that has always shadowed marketing but is now sharper than ever. Tom added that job security anxieties are fuelling caution at every level: “I think a lot of jobs are dependent on results. Whatever they invest, they need to make sure it’s measured, results-led.”
The net effect is that trust is being withheld — not because organisations don’t need marketing, but because they lack confidence in what it should look like and what it’s worth.
The squeezed middle
One of the most striking insights from the conversation was the emerging shape of marketing teams. Junior roles are vanishing — graduate programmes have been drastically reduced since 2020, and entry-level work is increasingly absorbed by AI tools. Senior hires are stalling because organisations either can’t justify the cost or can’t decide what they need. What’s left is a squeezed middle: managers with perhaps a few years of experience being asked to carry strategic, executional and operational weight simultaneously.
John put the challenge starkly. When you’re a marketing leader in a reasonably sized business, you have to go “toe to toe, nose to nose with experienced CEOs, CROs and CFOs,” he said. “That’s a lot to ask of someone who’s got a couple of years’ experience.” Tom raised the longer-term concern: with so few junior opportunities over the past two years, the pipeline for future marketing leadership is drying up. “The managers of tomorrow in three years’ time — they aren’t going to be there.”
It’s a structural problem masquerading as a cyclical one, and it carries real consequences for the profession.
Trust is being redistributed
If trust in marketing isn’t disappearing, where is it going? The answer, based on both guests’ observations, is that it’s being distributed across a broader and more flexible ecosystem. The most visible shift is the rise of fractional leadership. John now works as a fractional CMO for several companies, and Tom confirmed a “seriously noticeable surge” in demand for senior marketers to parachute in for a set number of days per week or month, shaping strategy while smaller teams execute.
Around this, a constellation of specialist freelancers, project-based agency work, and flexible resourcing models is emerging. Tom noted that B2B marketing agencies are seeing growth again after a difficult 2023-24, precisely because clients with reduced in-house teams now need external support for delivery and strategic guidance. But the nature of that work has changed — it’s shorter-term, more project-based, and far more focused on demonstrable return.
John described a typical model: a small internal team, a fractional CMO providing strategic direction, and two or three specialist freelancers covering paid media, SEO or content. It’s leaner, more agile, and built around trust that’s earned through impact rather than tenure.
The AI correction is coming
AI is the accelerant running through every thread of this conversation, but both guests believe a correction is on the horizon. Tom shared an anecdote from a well-known global agency: “It’s a race to the bottom with AI because we need to hit the bottom first to then rebuild up.” His prediction is that trust will flow back toward human marketers who understand the nuances that AI simply cannot deliver.
John framed it as a question of leverage. Senior marketers who embrace AI are “supercharged” by it — they can deliver more value across more engagements than ever before. But AI without experienced human judgment is just faster mediocrity. As Tom observed, when smaller businesses can access the same AI-powered tools as larger competitors, differentiation becomes harder, not easier. The marketers who stand out will be those who know how to blend AI efficiency with human insight, creativity and strategic thinking.
The tool is transformative. But it’s still a tool.
What marketers need to do about it
Both John and Tom converged on a clear message for marketers navigating this landscape: the currency has changed, and those who adapt will thrive.
Tom was emphatic that the market is crying out for evidence of commercial impact. “Everything is about impact,” he said. “What impact have you made?” The resumes and LinkedIn profiles he sees are heavy on responsibilities and industry knowledge, but light on the thing every hiring company now wants — proof that you moved the needle. His advice is to build a personal portfolio of case studies showing what you delivered and what difference it made, even if the context was difficult. Restructuring, cost-cutting, navigating a downturn — these are all stories of commercial impact if you frame them properly.
John added two further dimensions. First, curiosity: the marketers who will stand out are those who demonstrate they’re actively learning, bringing in new ideas, and engaging with how the landscape is shifting rather than waiting for it to settle. And second — with a knowing smile at the irony — communication. “Think about how you can confidently tell the story about yourself,” he said. It’s remarkable advice for a profession built on storytelling, but in a market where organisations are cautious and uncertain, the ability to articulate your value clearly and with conviction is a genuine differentiator.
The short-termism in the market right now is real, but it’s also unsustainable. The great reshuffle isn’t the end of B2B marketing — it’s the end of a particular model. Trust hasn’t disappeared from the equation; it’s being redistributed across new structures, new roles and new ways of working. The marketers who thrive will be those who understand where trust is landing and position themselves to earn it.
Practical takeaways
- Build your impact portfolio. Start documenting the commercial outcomes you’ve driven — not just what you were responsible for, but what changed because of your work. Frame every career story around results, even the tough ones.
- Get serious about AI fluency. Being able to articulate how you’ll use AI to drive efficiency and results is now table stakes. But equally, position yourself as the person who understands what AI can’t do — the strategic judgment and nuance that comes from experience.
- Think beyond the permanent, full-time model. Fractional and flexible working isn’t a consolation prize — it’s a genuine structural shift. Whether you’re senior enough to consider portfolio work or mid-career and building specialist expertise, the more modular team model is here to stay.
- Play the long game on trust. Organisations will eventually need marketers who think beyond the next quarter. Position yourself as someone who delivers quick wins but builds for the longer term — that balance is exactly what the best companies are looking for.