Marketing professionals in the technology and telecommunications sector are set to be some of the worst-affected by the economic climate as 2009 brings staff cuts and shrinking budgets.

The Marketing Trends Survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, quizzed 1,259 marketing professionals during October. It reveals that almost a quarter of marketers in the sector expect the size of their firm's marketing function to reduce within a year. It also found just one in 10 expect to recruit marketing staff over the coming year, down from more than a third who expected to do so six months ago.

Despite this, technology marketing professionals were more confident about their job prospects than those in any other industry. Forty-nine per cent claimed not to be worried about the next 12 months compared with just 29 per cent who admitted they were concerned.

In addition, 71 per cent of respondents in the technology claimed UK economic conditions will worsen in the year ahead, compared with the 53 per cent who thought this six months ago. A total of 36 per cent said they believed conditions at their own company would deteriorate over the next year, up from just 10 per cent six months ago.

David Thorp, director of research and information at The Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: “It is disappointing to see such widespread job cuts anticipated in the IT sector. Technology firms need to understand that IT marketers have a key role to play in helping their organisations identify and exploit the opportunities a recession brings.

"Professional marketers working in the IT sector must create real value for their organisations and measure the effectiveness of their marketing activities if they are to demonstrate how indispensable they are to their organisations.”