By Harry Fowler - Group Digital Recruiter for AMV Group.

Thanks to all who made it to the discussion last Tuesday (29th Jan) - the above title may give those of you who didn’t make it a wee taster.

Ok, moving forward.

I was recently on a panel at the Deloitte Fast 500 which recognizes Telecoms, Media and Technology companies that have achieved the fastest rates of annual revenue growth in EMEA during the past five years.

More than half of the companies surveyed said they plan to expand their workforce by more than 25 percent, with the vast majority wanting to grow organically, but the biggest challenge to these companies is “finding, hiring and retaining qualified employees”.

So it’s not just digitally led agencies in London (oh sorry and other places like Bristol) – a small consolation no doubt.

So, is this then a grass routes issue?

Educational bodies cannot keep their teachings in line with the advance of technology and therefore one could assume that we will always have difficulty in delivering resources in the numbers that we require?

Doing some research at graduate level – via Prospects website - there was some interesting reading. We may need to face the reality of being priced out of the market for top class talent.

Average starting salaries are higher in the following areas: Banking, Legal, Consulting, IT, Science, Engineering, Accounting and Financial Management.

We need to start getting ahead of these, or at least start competing on a more even keel.

There are opportunities to work on world changing products and services here, and I’m not going to disparage any of the aforementioned sectors, they’re all interesting in their own right, but why are we still not getting the volume of talent we need if our industry is apparently so cool and trendy?

We also need to do a lot more to promote the industry overall, from career progression and training to competitive salaries and working environments. Does job security become a factor? Successful paths must be made available to prospective employees. Does the outside world actually know what we all do for a living? I doubt it.

Should we look at developing a recognised body to further promote our sector within educational bodies? Is this something that we should discuss with the IAB, BIMA, D&AD to champion on our behalf?

I for one, am off to speak to them and see whether they have any thoughts on the matter.

harry