Prospects for arts professionals
What does the future hold for arts professionals? The latest AP survey reveals the jitters of those working in a sector under increasing pressure
With 28% of arts organisations likely to make staff redundant (p1) and a similar proportion expecting to negotiate reduced terms and conditions for staff in the next 12 months, the career prospects of some arts professionals clearly hang in the balance. Under this gloomy scenario, it is apparent that those employed or working freelance in the arts are struggling to keep their hopes alive.
Prospects for staff
Whilst 70% have some confidence in their senior management’s ability to lead them effectively over the next 12 months, only 59% have similar faith in their boards. Less than two-thirds (62%) think that their current job is secure for at least the next 12 months, and 15% are either certain that their jobs will end or expect this to happen. Less than a third (30%) are confident that they could secure a new job in the arts sector within the next six months if they lose their current job. These fears also appear to underpin a softening of attitudes towards terms and conditions of employment: around half of respondents describe the possibility of a below-inflation pay increment or pay freeze as ‘acceptable’, with fewer than 10% rejecting the idea completely. Short-time working would only be unacceptable to 28%, and 45% do not rule out the possibility of having to negotiate a reduction in pay: for many, these tough measures would be a lesser evil than redundancy.
Prospects for freelancers
Freelancers are, understandably, equally nervous. Around two-thirds (64%) think it unlikely that they will sustain their current level of freelance earnings over the year ahead. But some of their pessimism may be premature: although one in four organisations is expecting to reduce its use of freelancers, twice as many are planning to use more. No clear picture emerges as to how freelance relationships with clients are likely to develop. Some freelancers think they will work for more clients, some for less; some anticipate increasing the number of hours or days they work, some anticipate this falling. But relatively few (14%) foresee an opportunity to raise their daily or hourly rate, and 37% believe that they may have to reduce their fees.
Some of the findings in this survey paint an unsurprisingly grim picture of expectations for the year ahead, but what is clear is that those working in the arts will be trying their utmost to do more with less – it is an approach the sector has grown used to over the years. The stereotype of the starving artist in the garret is hardly one to aspire to, but it is symbolic of the ability of the arts to survive through the hardest of times. The spirit of the sector may be slumping, but energy should be reserved for the difficult battle ahead.
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