Skills Gaps Warning On Creative Media

Major research launched by Skillset has revealed skills gaps and shortages in the rapidly changing media landscape.
It is predicted that the creative industries will grow at twice the rate of the rest of the economy – and creative media is pivotal to this. But Skillset’s strategic skills assessment for the creative media industries in the UK warns we must have the right people in place.
One in two companies in the creative media industries report skills gaps as we move out of recession and look to the future, it reveals.
The first ever National Strategic Skills Audit, also released by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), draws on Skillset’s in-depth research.
The report said there is an “oversupply” in many general creative media roles, but serious skills shortages in areas like digital technology and multiplatform capability, broadcast engineering, business and commercial know-how, visual effects and craft-orientated jobs.
Graduates now make up 73% of the workforce, compared to 66% in 2003. And 53% of all degrees held are media related. Yet, overall, the proportion of people with relevant technical or vocational qualifications is low at 7%.
One in four employers say more training is needed in multiplatform content and new and digital technology. One in ten argue that greater management and leadership skills are a priority, particularly to drive their business to take advantage of multiplatform opportunities.
Skillset's research also reveals that one in two people in the creative media feel they need training. Yet nine in ten reported barriers and obstacles to getting this - including fees being too high and employers being unwilling to pay for training 34%.
GMTV Chairman and Skillset Chair Clive Jones said: "It’s crucial that we nurture talent, close skills gaps and shape up our current and future workforce to lead the way globally.
"The outlook is positive, but we need to make sure we have the right people in place to make this a reality."
Skillset argues this is more challenging as the industry has also suffered because of recession. Almost a third of employers sampled said they had, or expected to make, staff redundant as a direct result. Just over a third had not renewed freelance contracts.
Some parts of the creative media have also experienced a worrying fall in numbers of women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic workers, as well as an increase in people leaving in their thirties and forties.
Skillset Chief Executive Dinah Caine commented: "Our in-depth analysis highlights the serious challenges ahead for creative media as we emerge out of recession. We know, for example, that the industry is routinely losing highly skilled professionals. It is also likely that demand for the highly skilled freelance labour pool will increase.
"It is vital that the industry adapts quickly and invests now to be in the best position to manage rapid change."
(BMcN/BmCC)