A quarter of in-house comms professionals think their teams will grow in 2026, according to a survey for PRWeek and In.Comms.
The anonymous survey, released ahead of the publication of the 2026 UK Power Book, canvassed the opinions of nearly 100 in-house Power Book entrants to gauge their views on key issues, and found that 23 per cent think their team will ‘grow somewhat’ while another two per cent think their team size will ‘grow strongly’.
One respondent stated that they were “hopeful” for additional headcount while another said “comms is a huge core part of our business and I expect that to remain, if not grow, as we look to super-charge the business”. They added that it’s “time to grow and attract more people to what we do”.
The survey also revealed that 18 per cent of respondents believe their recruitment rates will increase this year. “We’ve recently made a significant acquisition so some of my responses re team size are reflective of that,” said one person polled.
Despite the optimism, two-thirds (66 per cent) of respondents believe their team size will stay the same, and a similar number (67 per cent) think their recruitment rate will remain unchanged.
One respondent in the luxury hospitality industry stated that 2025 was a “tumultuous year” and they expected “no change” to their internal manpower allowance and no change or a slight, inflationary increase to budgets. Regardless of this, the respondent said they were "cautiously optimistic” for 2026.
Another respondent stated that their company “grew sharply in 2025”, so they expect their 2026 to be one of “bedding in and developing business-growth focused strategies”.
The good news is that only seven per cent of people believed their team sizes would decline and 11 per cent of respondents believed their recruitment rates would freeze or reduce.
However, one respondent said: “More will be expected of my role, given that the team has been downsized with no corresponding reduction in our remit.”
The 2026 UK Power Book, which lists the most influential figures in UK comms, as chosen by the editorial team at PRWeek UK, will be published next month by both PRWeek and In.Comms.