Labour Market Entry and Skill Formation in the Creative Industries
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Cardiff Business School
Abstract
Creative industries such as TV have been through a process of deregulation, internationalisation, technological change and vertical disintegration. In the neo-bureaucratic setting, freelancers are responsible for their own skill formation, potentially posing a considerable training gap in a key UK industry. The aim of the research is to evaluate how entry is made into the TV labour market for employees, how skills are accessed in a neo-bureaucratic setting where younger workers have never been employed by the large boradcasters, and the role of social capital in forms of social advantage and disadvantage (eg. class, ethnicity or gender). The project thus addresses the "cross-cutting" challenge of skill development in a modern economy ie. creative industry.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| James Davies (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/R501013/1 | 30/09/2017 | 29/09/2021 | |||
| 1943444 | Studentship | ES/R501013/1 | 30/09/2017 | 30/12/2020 | James Davies |
| Description | This study took the form of a number of long-form interviews with workers who have begun working in UK television production within the last 10 years. In addition, a smaller number of interviews were conducted with experienced professionals in the sector. The findings suggest that new workers to television face numerous barriers to entry, based on social class, gender and ethnicity, as well as difficult to define and obscured entry-points. What became apparent was the ways in which individuals experience their careers, particularly at an early stage. Shifts in organisational landscape have resulted in an increasingly self-employed and freelance workforce, increasingly responsible for their own employment, development and training. As a result of a perceived lack of a formal training structure and hard to define entry points, many workers felt that they had gained entry to the industry primarily through serendipity, luck, or being in the 'right place at the right time.' In conjunction with this, having formal, specialist skills was played down at the point of entry, with a much bigger emphasis on having the 'right attitude.' In reality, this 'attitude' translates as putting up with long hours, not complaining when given menial tasks, and the willingness to work hard. When combined with a sense of feeling 'lucky' to be in a glamorous and competitive industry, there is the potential that the younger generation of television worker exist in a culture of self-exploitation, poor employment relations and a lack of union influence, and a normalised environment of long hours and tight deadlines. Additionally, those who attended higher education, particularly with media degrees, report very different experiences from course to course, with many viewing their time in university as not relevant or of value. There are therefore implications for how to best prepare potential workers in television production for their careers, with more value seen in on-the-job training and learning, as well as apprenticeships and work experience. |
| Exploitation Route | It is hoped the outcomes of this funding project will offer employers and educators a more complete picture of the experiences and challenges facing those hoping to make their entry into the television industry in the UK. With the Creative Economy a source of ongoing growth and development, directing and channelling funding to the most beneficial areas of training and recruitment will ensure that the expanding creative economy does not deprive itself of efficiently skilled workers to provide a sustainable future. This is particularly salient to creative hubs such as South Wales, Manchester and Glasgow, as more and more productions choose to establish themselves away from London. Additionally, the respondents' experiences of training, stress and feelings of exploitation and diversity initiatives provide valuable insight on the real impact and perception of existing methods of fair and egalitarian recruitment, and offer potential advice on how to better address the socio-economic, ethnic and gender imbalances historically present within television in the UK. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| URL | https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/business-school/2019/08/07/is-uk-television-facing-a-crisis-in-skills-and-training/ |