No idea what dig is... so that’s my guess

JUST to be fair, you're asking a bowl of data analysts,who obviously believe there is a future in analytics. Maybe try another bowl? Then again, is there any other bowl that would advocate for you to ask the same question with another cohort? Let's face it, you're in analytics not because of the money, but because there's no other cohort that can honestly tell you: "Go ahead, date around. You'll fall in love with me anyway."

Analytics Don’t need people to tell you things are going horribly

So after another crazy week has passed, I’ve found that my clients, despite scaling back a ton of their spending, have actually increased their research, data, and analytics budget. Clients really need more insightful data at the moment because they can’t make informed decisions and make more efficient use of their investments without data, it’s just too risky. Plus, they need to be informed about consumer behavior in this unprecedented time. I hope higher-level and client-facing analytics folks really seize this opportunity.

Data teams are small and can be easily squeezed into other accounts.

Depending on the structure of the team, a good marketer also knows how to handle the analytics for initiatives they are running. Do analysts help you go deeper? Absolutely? Is it all way necessary? Not in my opinion. If we’re looking to trim the fat, we need fewer people talking about the numbers and more people doing actual things.

Data teams are usually very small and highly utilized, so not typically the first place to go when thinning the herd

We are planning on moving planning and investment associates over to adops and analytics teams actually. Clients are spending much less so there’s less need for them, and there’s always a shortage of adops/tech/data people. Now is the time to start automating things and measuring improvements in efficiency. Prove your worth.

Data teams are hard to find, and if you do manage to find someone, the price is higher than before. DIG and Strat first to go, as those are easier to find.

Holds some truth. A bit of both, imo. You're arguing DIG gets to stay, strategy and analytics really not necessary. Btw, in my agency we already have analytics people doing other things like buying and/or strategy work. Dual roles. For example, a data scientist who writes custom buying algorithms. Are they programmatic buyers or analysts? So yes, it depends on how your team is structured.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is dig?

I don't want to but my analysts will go before my media people. I can muddle through without dedicated analysts and go tactical with media, keep hitting goals, keep clients happy. Can't do the reverse as easily.

No but really I’m not stressed at all about losing my job, Data is the new oil, analytics is definitely last to g