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Tuesday, February 08, 2022
Unesco warns of crisis in creative sector with 10m jobs lost due to pandemic
Culture | The Guardian: Ten million jobs in creative industries worldwide were lost in 2020 as a result of the Covid pandemic, and the increasing digitisation of cultural output means it is harder than ever for artists to make a living, a Unesco report has said.
5 comments:
Jessica Williams
said...
It is insane that the artistic market has increased but people are still loosing jobs. I mean I know from personal experience that media consumption absolutely sky rocketed over quarantine because there was nothing else to really do. When the world was in peril it looked to the arts to keep them from panicking. I think it is such a disservice that arts jobs are so often considered frivolous and the butt of the joke. I mean yeah we are not giving people cpr or practicing law but we are still a vital part of any community and should be invested in. Both private and public sectors should be more willing to donate and fund these arts, especially in smaller towns where the arts and culture communities are not as easily accessible as in a big city. I mean it scares me that this is still a problem in the industry I am going into but a bit relieved that people know that it is a problem.
The arts are always so risky to be in. While it seems like there has been an increase in creative jobs, the truth is there has been a loss of jobs. Perhaps the balance of artistic jobs has become askew, fine arts are not as in high demand anymore, but the rise of social media related jobs are on the rise. It does make me worried, since I know I don’t really have a financial cushion to land on once I graduate college. The only thing I can do is to work hard and hope for the better in four years. I think, now and especially in theater, there has been a decline in jobs. But I think that the key to saving Broadway and I guess the entertainment industry as a whole, is figuring out how we can do something new and something different by taking advantage of how new and different everything is during this time.
This article uncovers the unfortunate truth of creative industries during pandemic. It is sad how the fastest-growing industry is also suffering from an unprecedented unemployment rate. Another upsetting fact is the severe underrepresentation of female workers in this industry, although they make up half of the employers of the industry. The lack of acknowledgement and presentation means that it’s even harder for women to receive funds, compensations, equal work pays, and support. This poses a big threat for low-income families because it means that they could potentially lose half, if not all, of the families’ income. With the current situation, it seems that many people are already transferring to another industry, probably one which is more stable and less vulnerable. This leaves me questioning the future because whilst many in this industry have been hit hard, there’s still a high demand for entertainment, especially during the days of quarantine. I suppose the transition from live entertainment to screens is unavoidable, if not already happening.
As unfortunate as it is that the pandemic has caused so many people to leave the creative field, I do feel that that means this is the perfect time to be in school for creative pursuits. By the time everyone currently in school is graduating, the vacuum created in the live and performing arts sector will start fill again and those graduating then will be in a good spot to just step into a job immediately.
Still it's important to note just how awful this pandemic has been on those in our field. Our industry is not stable and the floor can suddenly fall out from under with no warning. It's important to have backup plans and skills or professions you can fall back on in case something similar happens in the future. Knowing how to market yourself outside of your own specialization could mean the difference between you paying your bills or not someday.
It's crazy to think about how disproportionate the world's reliance on the arts is compared to how much attention, aid, and focus is given to the people who actually make those arts happen. I mean, when you really think about it, pretty much everything we use in our everyday lives is a form of art. Everything has to be intimately crafted and molded into the exact shape, appearance, and function that is desired. But we never think about it. I know I never think about how much effort, time, and labor went into designing, building, programming, and marketing the computer I'm using right now to write this, but every single one of its elements took loads of blood, sweat, and tears to make a reality. If that isn't what qualifies something as art, I don't know what is. You can see that exact same behavior towards theatre and film. I know I've definitely walked out of the theatre or clicked away from the show I'm streaming before the credits have rolled (I try not to now, especially ever since I started doing theatre work). I didn't think about the people who made that piece of media a reality, I just watched for my enjoyment and abandoned it once I was done with it. That negligence is reflected in all sorts of ways, not least of which is in the lack of funding being provided to the arts.
5 comments:
It is insane that the artistic market has increased but people are still loosing jobs. I mean I know from personal experience that media consumption absolutely sky rocketed over quarantine because there was nothing else to really do. When the world was in peril it looked to the arts to keep them from panicking. I think it is such a disservice that arts jobs are so often considered frivolous and the butt of the joke. I mean yeah we are not giving people cpr or practicing law but we are still a vital part of any community and should be invested in. Both private and public sectors should be more willing to donate and fund these arts, especially in smaller towns where the arts and culture communities are not as easily accessible as in a big city. I mean it scares me that this is still a problem in the industry I am going into but a bit relieved that people know that it is a problem.
The arts are always so risky to be in. While it seems like there has been an increase in creative jobs, the truth is there has been a loss of jobs. Perhaps the balance of artistic jobs has become askew, fine arts are not as in high demand anymore, but the rise of social media related jobs are on the rise. It does make me worried, since I know I don’t really have a financial cushion to land on once I graduate college. The only thing I can do is to work hard and hope for the better in four years. I think, now and especially in theater, there has been a decline in jobs. But I think that the key to saving Broadway and I guess the entertainment industry as a whole, is figuring out how we can do something new and something different by taking advantage of how new and different everything is during this time.
This article uncovers the unfortunate truth of creative industries during pandemic. It is sad how the fastest-growing industry is also suffering from an unprecedented unemployment rate. Another upsetting fact is the severe underrepresentation of female workers in this industry, although they make up half of the employers of the industry. The lack of acknowledgement and presentation means that it’s even harder for women to receive funds, compensations, equal work pays, and support. This poses a big threat for low-income families because it means that they could potentially lose half, if not all, of the families’ income. With the current situation, it seems that many people are already transferring to another industry, probably one which is more stable and less vulnerable. This leaves me questioning the future because whilst many in this industry have been hit hard, there’s still a high demand for entertainment, especially during the days of quarantine. I suppose the transition from live entertainment to screens is unavoidable, if not already happening.
As unfortunate as it is that the pandemic has caused so many people to leave the creative field, I do feel that that means this is the perfect time to be in school for creative pursuits. By the time everyone currently in school is graduating, the vacuum created in the live and performing arts sector will start fill again and those graduating then will be in a good spot to just step into a job immediately.
Still it's important to note just how awful this pandemic has been on those in our field. Our industry is not stable and the floor can suddenly fall out from under with no warning. It's important to have backup plans and skills or professions you can fall back on in case something similar happens in the future. Knowing how to market yourself outside of your own specialization could mean the difference between you paying your bills or not someday.
It's crazy to think about how disproportionate the world's reliance on the arts is compared to how much attention, aid, and focus is given to the people who actually make those arts happen. I mean, when you really think about it, pretty much everything we use in our everyday lives is a form of art. Everything has to be intimately crafted and molded into the exact shape, appearance, and function that is desired. But we never think about it. I know I never think about how much effort, time, and labor went into designing, building, programming, and marketing the computer I'm using right now to write this, but every single one of its elements took loads of blood, sweat, and tears to make a reality. If that isn't what qualifies something as art, I don't know what is. You can see that exact same behavior towards theatre and film. I know I've definitely walked out of the theatre or clicked away from the show I'm streaming before the credits have rolled (I try not to now, especially ever since I started doing theatre work). I didn't think about the people who made that piece of media a reality, I just watched for my enjoyment and abandoned it once I was done with it. That negligence is reflected in all sorts of ways, not least of which is in the lack of funding being provided to the arts.
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