Severe shortages in technical skills and lack of interest from younger generations are all worrying trends identified in IABM’s latest Talent Shortages in Media Tech report. The organisation’s Head of Skills and Development Stuart Ray discusses some of the biggest challenges facing employers and educators and how initiatives such as IBC’s Talent Programme are looking to make a difference.
Over the last five years or so the technology sector as a whole, including to a great extent broadcasting, has been adversely affected by supply shortages. Most attention and concern has been focused on the availability of chip sets and other electronic components, which became hard to acquire and more expensive. Less discussed but equally apparent, as well as potentially more damaging to the broadcast sector, is the shortage of emerging technical talent available to both broadcasters and equipment manufacturers.
Among the organisations highlighting this skills shortage is the International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM). The trade association for broadcast and media technology brought the issue into sharp focus in May this year with the publication of its Megatrends report examining Talent Shortages in Media Tech. In the ‘Snap Insights’ overview, a survey of vendors, service providers, and media/production companies shows that recruitment into technical roles continues to be problematic, although 2024 is marginally better than 2023 with 80% of respondents saying the process was “difficult” or “very difficult”, compared to 86% last year.
World Skills Café and IBC Talent Programme
These and other issues surrounding what the broadcast technology industry is now recognising as a serious problem will be further discussed at the World Skills Cafe on 12 September at IBC2024 - the day before the show officially opens. The IABM is jointly sponsoring this inaugural event, which Stuart Ray, IABM’s Head of Skills and Development, describes as bringing together industry figures who are concerned about the present skills crisis and what it could mean for the future if something is not done to correct it.
“It will be a gathering of like-minded people who have probably experienced this talent shortage or are experiencing it or want to do something about it,” he says. “IABM students will be part of it as well to talk about [the situation] from the perspective of young people who are trying to get into the industry.”
As well as examining the present skills shortage, the World Skills Cafe will also aim to create a ‘live’ version of the Global Media and Entertainment Talent Manifesto, which was co-instigated by Carrie Wootten, Co-Founder of both international diversity membership organisation Rise and the Rise Up Academy, in March this year. “Organisations like Rise and the Rise Academy in the UK are doing great things in terms of going into schools and organising two-day free workshops with the support of many manufacturers and production companies,” Ray adds.
Another event at IBC designed to bring new, younger people into the broadcast technology sector is the IBC Talent Programme. This free series of sessions takes place on Monday 16 September in the Showcase Theatre in Hall 8. Ray sees this as “a great step forward” but with the challenge of enabling those who might be interested in attending to be there. “You’ve got to encourage people to get to IBC in the first place,” he says, “IABM has a bursary scheme that allows us to bring students of media technology or production degrees to Amsterdam. This covers the travel, hotels and full-delegate passes for 10-12 students from three universities around Europe. It’s a relatively small thing but it has value because some of those that attended IBC in the past say it helped focus their careers.”
Encouraging young talent
“The real concern is where the next generation is coming from and how we engage younger people” Stuart Ray, IABM
The World Skills Cafe and IBC Talent Programme are not reactions to a recently identified problem but, as Ray observes, one that has been growing for some time: “When you post about this on LinkedIn a lot of people reply saying it has been like this for years. I also found a report from just over 10 years ago that talked about a talent shortage in the media tech industry back then.”
Ray continues that while it might not be a new challenge to be faced by the broadcast sector, what is surprising is that the shortage continues at a time when a large number of job losses continue to be reported. “There is no shortage of talent within the industry but the real concern is where the next generation is coming from and how we engage younger people in what might be regarded as the less sexy side of production,” he explains. “There are many young people doing production courses and studying production skills at universities and colleges but very few are following a more technical path.”
Before joining the IABM to take up the newly created position of head of skills and development in September 2023, Ray, who has worked in training and education for the television industry for nearly 30 years, was head of department of the media technology, computing and television production courses at Solent University. “On the media technology course I looked after we noticed a real downturn about six or seven years ago in terms of applicants,” he says. “We wondered if it was something we had done but when we looked around the marketplace we saw exactly the same thing, with courses closing in the university sector up and down the country and others struggling to recruit enough students.”
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This is not confined to the UK, with Ray saying colleagues in Europe have reported similar problems. “There needs to be a focus on targeting talent in the 14 to 18 age group, persuading them this is an area that should be of interest and is a great career with lots of opportunities,” he comments. “But there are several issues that have worked against this and caused the current situation. This includes salary, with pay scales in the IT sector being higher than in media, which causes a great deal of competition for the kind of people we need.”
Technical skills
“While young people are focused on the content, whether it’s on TV or TikTok, they don’t necessarily think about the technology and process that lies behind it” Stuart Ray, IABM
Another barrier that need to be overcome, Ray says, is the divide between what are generally considered to be ‘glamorous’ or ‘creative’ media jobs and what he describes as ‘invisible’ but still essential and technically involved jobs. “If you talk to a 16 or 17-year old about working in television or film, 50% of them will say they want to be a director, 30% will say an actor or presenter and the remainder will be positions like director of photography or editor,” he comments. “They know about those roles because people get Oscars and BAFTAs for them. But you don’t get an Oscar or a BAFTA for being best technical operator or best broadcast engineer and while young people are focused on the content, whether it’s on TV or TikTok, they don’t necessarily think about the technology and process that lies behind it.”
Despite the somewhat gloomy present scenario - with the additional possibility of a later shortfall in skilled technical staff as the current aging talent base retires, Ray does believe it is one that can be turned around.
“It’s probably a fairly long-term project to try to spark interest in the 14 to 18-age group that some years down the line will lead to them coming into our industry,” he concludes. “We have to be optimistic but also need to get young people thinking about the technology that enables them to watch YouTube on their phones or stream video on Netflix. Initiatives such as the World Skills Cafe, the Global Media and Entertainment Talent Manifesto and the Rise Up Academy are positive steps and will help to make the invisible visible. As long as we keep taking these positive steps we will be OK.”
As well as Monday’s (16 Sept) speaker sessions in the Showcase Theatre, the IBC Talent Programme is hosting a Networking Drinks event on Sunday 15 September from 4-6 pm at the Café Amsterdam at the RAI, offering an opportunity to meet and engage with key partners and stakeholders involved in the event.
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