Traditional agencies wage war in order to scoop the best talent for digital jobs. Off-line agencies join the digital bandwagon Information collated from the Major Players database shows that since January 2010 there has been a large increase in digital producer job briefs, 60% of which have been sourced from traditional integrated agencies. This is good news for freelance project managers as there is an apparent shortage of quality permanent digital project managers within the sector. This encourages companies to employ freelancers in order to fill short term skills gaps or as a ‘try before you buy’ method. This correlates with our research which indicates that only one in five project managers on our database have a strong digital skill set. So, what does this mean for digital jobs? As a project manager looking to excel within the digital sphere, now is the time to up your game and invest in your digital skill set. There are lots of ways to break-in, be it participating in independent projects, signing up to training courses, shadowing those already established within the industry or simply brushing up on your understanding of digital media and keeping up to date with new trends and technologies. In short, maximise your potential as a digital professional. Who will win the race? According to Rosie Watherston, recruiter for digital client services jobs at Major Players “Large traditional agencies are already recruiting digital talent in order to build and establish their own digital teams in-house - they want to mature as a business and optimise their reach within the market.” However, this is not to say that the race has already been won by the ‘bigger boys’. These global organisations have spent the best part of the last 30 to 40 years establishing themselves within the traditional formats of print and TV, but will they be able to harness digital as effectively? At first glance the
smaller agencies are already ahead of the game in this arena, but simply can’t match the attractive packages offered by the larger, traditional agencies. Could this emerging trend potentially lead to the consolidation of digital and traditional houses in an attempt to create an integrated package? With traditional agencies keen to improve on what they are already offering and smaller, specialist agencies already leading the way, the race to acquire the best in <a href="http://www.majorplayers.co.uk">digital production talent</a> has already begun.
ABOUT AUTHOR (RESOURCE box) Headquartered in Covent Garden, London, Major Players’ team of more than 80 consultants provides freelance and permanent personnel. The firm recruits for various advertising jobs, marketing, design, PR & media, events, interactive media, creative, design, digital production jobs UK.
Contact MajorPlayers: +44(0)207 836 4041 Mike Iannella: mike.iannella@majorplayers.co.uk Charley Caines: charley.caines@majorplayers.co.uk