Since Brexit was announced, practitioners and recruiters at creative companies of all sizes have lamented a skills shortage within the UK – something exacerbated by reduced candidate pools due to Brexit. Unfortunately, however, talent pipelines do not produce instant solutions due to where their journey starts: school.
After years of austerity and the defunding of arts and design subjects in state schools, a group of “concerned leaders from UK’s creative industries” have written an open letter to Jeremy Hunt prior to this week’s Autumn Statement urging him to invest in arts and design subjects which are becoming available only to students from wealthy families.
“We see an increasing proportion of applicants coming from fee-paying schools where it is easier for students to study art and design subjects and obtain qualifications, and fewer from state school backgrounds where these subjects have become rarer,” write the signatories, including designer Neville Brody of Pentagram Marina Willer of Saatchi & Saatchi Kate Stanners and Aaron Garbut of Rockstar Games as signatories.
“My concerns largely stem from what I am witnessing with regard to education for my own children and those close to me over the past ten years,” states Sean Thomas, Executive Creative Director at creative agency JKR and signatory of this letter. The first teachers being let go amongst my friends are those teaching arts subjects; at a recent parents evening event I attended we asked why the children hadn’t done any art at all during term – only to discover this was due to staff cuts and materials shortages.”
How many businesses and organisations in recent years have turned to innovation as their way to success? Innovation can be defined as creativity applied towards problem-solving.
Jack Renwick, founder of her eponymous studio and this year’s D&AD President, says that the situation has reached such critical proportions that teachers must cover the costs for materials themselves – something she calls both ridiculous and unsustainable, which explains why 75% are now seeking to leave teaching altogether. She suggests this has created a self-perpetuating cycle which accelerates their demise further.
Funding issues aside, perception is also at play here: when league tables like English Baccalaureate don’t recognize arts subjects such as music or drama education, Renwick points out. “Schools could potentially be dissuaded from offering quality (if any) arts education.”
This approach to creative education is flawed in itself; outside of explicit ‘creative’ industries, the skills taught through creative education can be applied across any number of roles and career pathways, according to Scriberia’s Chris Wilson: “How many businesses or organisations have adopted innovation as their path to success, growth, efficiency or competitive advantage over time? Innovation means finding creative solutions to old problems; creativity drives innovation.”
Wilson notes: “Without creative thinkers with the skills necessary for innovation within any workforce – be it a fintech app, engineering firm or NHS trust – innovating will become difficult. Communication, iteration and engaging people may become nearly impossible.” And yet instead of taking advantage of opportunities to develop these invaluable and versatile abilities in curriculums across industries and apply them all over society, these talents remain undervalued; children leave school believing these capabilities don’t belong in their future.”
Thomas was part of a generation that enjoyed relatively smooth entry to university and work placement opportunities with few obstacles or barriers to overcome. Through personal accounts and working with school leavers via Sparks (a JKR programme designed to introduce them to the industry), he has witnessed that those conditions have now gone.
Creative industries careers often do not receive the recognition that they deserve as careers with respect, impact and profitability.
“Loans, grants, cheap accommodation in cities and agencies’ ability to offer internships… all these things have either disappeared entirely or are prohibitively expensive now for today’s generation of artists and creative professionals without parental support or safety nets in place.” This, coupled with underfunding of creative subjects in state schools to create rigid class barriers. Over time talent becomes more middle class or born into families already involved in these fields – which leads to less diversity, leading to fewer sources of ideas, perspectives and cultural homogeneity.”
Every individual working in the creative industries would likely agree with that last statement; however, the creative sector continues to suffer from an image issue and is not seen as a financial driver. Renwick states: “Careers in creative industries are still not recognised for what they should be; society views these jobs as frivolous or coloring in; therefore not linking business impact or effectiveness with our work,” which leads people into believing art and design are recreational hobbies rather than significant contributors to UK economic activity – making up roughly one out of eight businesses and accounting for 7.1% of UK jobs.”
Thomas notes the complexity of creative business solutions, design within brand and approaching problems from an alternative angle has taken years to establish and validate, but now credible bodies like Deloitte and Ipsos have recognized its power – as do companies such as Nike, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, Lego & Nintendo who utilize creativity as part of their operations.” He goes on to note the success of these businesses that use creativity as fuel.
But creative industries may still feel as though they’re talking to themselves while successive governments fail to appreciate their worth. “Many decision-makers remain unaware of what creative industries do – that’s partly our fault – which could explain their lack of appreciation.” I imagine many decision makers enjoy reading a well-designed website, visiting an exceptional restaurant or watching an outstanding TV program; yet many may lack awareness as to their complexity or what goes into creating such achievements.
Creative industries’ PS115 billion contribution to the UK economy presents an overwhelming financial case for government ministers seeking to appear in control of the economy, but viewing creative education and practice solely from transactional terms misses its point, according to Thomas: “It’s OK that some aspects of life just give pleasure without returning huge investments – if everyone did what everyone else was doing there would be less outlets for relaxation and enjoyment; in essence all work and no play makes Britain dull!”
