Sector training opportunities ‘falling short’, says study

There is “overwhelming evidence” of a lack of investment in skills and opportunities for professional development in the creative sector, according to a new report.

The Good Work Review: Job Quality in the Creative Industries, published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, measured employment and freelance work in the creative industries against 40 indicators of ‘good work’, including fair pay, flexible working and employee representation.

The study found only one third of creative industry employers have training plans in place, while one in five (21%) creative workers have undertaken work-related training in the past three months.

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The number of creative freelancers taking part in training is lower, with just one in ten participating in training opportunities, compared to 25% of self-employed workers across the UK workfrce.

The report says that the rates of training in sectors including craft, design, publishing, music, screen, and performing and visual arts are among some of the lowest in the UK economy.

“In an industry dependent on the skills and talent of the, often freelance, workforce, this is a critical concern,” it adds.

Elsewhere, the study found higher job satisfaction in creative sector workers than across the economy as a whole, with the sector scoring well on levels of autonomy, flexible working offers and the opportunity for creative expression.

But pay levels were often lower and working hours often longer compared to other sectors. The creative industries also performed poorly in employee representation, with only 8% of creative workers found to have formal procedures for employee consultation in place, compared with half of the wider economy average.

In response, the report recommends enhancing professional development and progression for creative industry workers as one of four key priorities for the industry and policy makers, alongside strengthening a platform of rights and protections, improving management and workplace practices and improving worker representation and voice.

Creative Industries Ministers Julia Lopez said this “first-of-its-kind review raises important issues facing the industry along with recommendations to ensure creative work is good work”.

“We will be working with colleagues across government and industry to address the proposals in our forthcoming Creative Industries Sector Vision.”

Inequalities in job quality

The report also found the quality of work someone experiences in the creative industries can vary considerably depending on a worker’s age, race, disability or class.

Workers from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds were found to fare worse on a range of job quality measures, including pronounced differences in pay, underemployment, insecure work, autonomy, job satisfaction and collective representation. 

Working class creative workers tended to earn less and be more likely to go through periods of underemployment or being unable to find permanent work, the report found.

They were also found to have less autonomy in their jobs than average and report lower rates of job satisfaction.

Meanwhile, disabled workers reported lower wellbeing and higher anxiety than workers without a disability.

In response to these findings, the report calls for the creative industries to address “persistent and pronounced disparities in access and the quality of work for those from underrepresented backgrounds”.

Clive Gillman, Director of Creative Industries at Creative Scotland, said the Good Work review will “help us to better understand how to support the sector to grow and develop in ways that are positive and progressive”.

“We look forward to working with the recommendations of the review and to see how this complex sector can evolve to be stronger and more inclusive in the future.”