Closed hiring culture in creative industries, study suggests

The creative industries continue to operate a “closed” hiring culture, with jobs often secured through friends or contacts, according to a new report.

Bectu said its study revealed that three in four jobs found by workers in the sector in the last 18 months came through a friend or contact.

The union said the findings of its survey of 5,500 creative industry workers in non-performing roles, from theatre to film and TV to fashion, raised fresh fears about a lack of open hiring practices in the creative industries.

Jobs were going to people who are well connected, with many workers marginalised from the industry, said Bectu.

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said: “These findings make clear that the creative industries continue to operate a closed hiring culture which is leaving many talented workers out in the cold, often driven by last-minute decision-making by studios that incentivises people to hire those they already know.

“This is a vital sector of the economy, but these archaic hiring practices mean that many talented professionals find it impossible to build a career in the sector because they lack the right connections, wasting their talent and crushing their hopes of a creative career.

“The situation is much worse for those from marginalised backgrounds.

“Creative talent isn’t the preserve of white middle class people with social capital, but if nothing changes then we will find that these are the only people able to get ahead in the sector.”