Wanted: skilled professionals

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Remember the last time you felt utter irritation on receiving one of those random call-centre calls asking about home loans, credit cards etc? Worse still, remember the utter shock when the caller (supposedly representing a prestigious MNC bank), conversed in a vernacular language.

The scarcity of skilled personnel is something that all industries are facing today; the same is being witnessed in the Indian media and advertising industry too. This explains why one notices the increased frequency with which media and advertising news portals these days have been flashing people movement stories. It is due to the shortage of talent. Our industry is in dire straits when it comes to availability of qualified professionals.

There are two-three key reasons for this, one of them being the demand-supply imbalance. The education system is not geared to provide trained recruits at fresher level. Most graduates, under-gra-duates being churned out are mere generalists, and not trained for a particular field. Prestigious institutes such as the IIMs too have not been paying enough emphasis on “softer” subjects like media and advertising.

Another roadblock is posed by the low remuneration offered across all positions, especially at the entry levels. The low commission rates at which most agencies operate, ensure that employees remain unsatisfied, thereby leading to high attrition among lower and middle level management. What agencies must understand is that good talent does not come cheap. It is like the chicken-and-egg situation: unless you attract good talent, you cannot have differential thinking.

In an industry, which is mainly driven by talent, how much time and effort are we really investing in harnessing this talent? How many media companies visit campuses to recruit? How many make reasonable offers? How much time do CEOs invest in people issues, as compared to financial ones?

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report says that the Rs 35,300-crore media and entertainment industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 19% for the next four years. In 2005, a record Rs 2,500 crore was invested in the sector. Most of it is riding on infrastructure expansion plans: multiplexes, digital cinemas or direct-to-home television systems. That kind of capital needs people with sound understanding of the media business, which is where most media companies are running into a wall. The result: jobs chasing rising salaries and new media schools instead of top-notch talent.