MxMIndia

Tag: Jobs

  • Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das: With so many people losing jobs in the media, would you say it’s a safe place for people to take up as a career?

    There is only one word to describe the response to Das ka Dum by Dr Bhaskar Das: Huuuuge. There are of course many who say that the column was a no-brainer. Those who’ve had a chat with BD are familiar with his repartees and spiritual responses to down-to-earth issues and problems.

     

    To those who’ve come in late, the link to the last column is: https://www.mxmindia.com/2019/09/das-ka-dum-todays-question-to-dr-bhaskar-das-are-you-really-spiritual-or-is-it-a-facade/. And the link to the one before that is in the last column.

     

    The questions will be answered by Dr Bhaskar Das, the former big boss of the Times of India group and Zee Media and Dainik Bhaskar and now Republic TV. For those who’ve known him or have heard him, Dr Das belongs to the rare species of advertising sales professionals who has this unique combination of being a deeply spiritual being and a very persuasive salesperson. His unique turn of phrase can make you chuckle, but almost always sets you pondering. At MxMIndia, we enjoy our conversations with him. And for every googly we bowl at him, he hits back like no one has ever before.

     

    Das ka Dum will feature Monday through Friday, except on our ‘no edition days’. Enjoy Day 3.

     

    With so many people losing jobs in the media, would you say it’s a safe place for people to take up as a career?

     

    VUCA  is the new normal. Media is no exception. Stability is the new death trap. And since worry is not a mode of preparation, one needs to upskill oneself continuously to remain ever-ready  for pivoting, both horizontally and vertically. Those who love instability, media is the space for them. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

     

    Editor: As we mentioned on Friday, some of the words and phrases our dear and delightful BD uses could go over your head. So, purely in reader interest, we will link such words to the dictionary meaning. Like we’ve done in the case of ‘VUCA’ today. VUCA isn’t of course a tough word… it’s just an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

  • Pink slips, pay cuts and no fresh hiring see a severe slowdown in the Indian media sector

    Jobs in Media: Slow & Unsteady

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    With news of employees being given the pink slip occupying news space almost frequently, the going has been getting tough for many in the Media & Entertainment sector. While experts and analysts had predicted a recovery a few quarters ago, the situation seems to be almost static or on the downfall in some cases.

     

    When MxMIndia had spoken to experts almost a year ago, the opinion seemed divided on the prospects of a recovery. Whether the situation has changed and whether jobs will be hard to come by at this juncture is anybody’s guess. We speak to the job experts to assess the situation…

     

    Abha Kapoor, Executive Director, K&J Search Consultants

    The turbulent economic environment that is marred by tight liquidity, slow economic growth, the devaluing rupee and rising inflation has impacted advertising revenues. Subscription revenues are far below their potential as the benefits of digitization are yet to kick in. With margins under pressure many media companies are in consolidation mode whereby they are rationalizing marketing, distribution, programming and people costs. The hiring sentiment is therefore subdued. In fact, hiring is happening mainly at junior and mid levels with almost no movement at senior levels. This ensures that costs are low and fresh young talent comes in. Contractual/consultant hiring is also on the upswing. Specialist professionals are being pulled in for specific projects and not on payroll basis thereby controlling the fixed costs, in an extremely dynamic industry scenario.

     

    Also, the M&E sector has been overvalued and over leveraged in the past and hence in the current scenario, funding to this sector is further constrained. Therefore new initiatives/expansion plans with the exception of digital/new media have slowed down or are on hold which means – fewer start-ups and fewer replacement requirements as professionals hold on to their jobs!”

     

    Ashish Pherwani, Partner, Media & Entertainment, Ernst & Young LLP

    The first quarter of FY13-14 has seen some good results from companies, whether television, print or radio, and there has certainly been both ad volume and (a slight) rate growth. The new reality is that one can expect a tough working environment till the next elections. There are several positives for the media industry today such as increased revenues from DAS, rising cover prices of newspapers, the (always) imminent Phase III of radio licensing, and rising box-office collections of films on the one side, but this is being countered by a weakening rupee which is pushing up prices, falling stock markets and investor confidence, slowdown in some industrial sectors like auto, etc. It’s a precarious balance, and the winners will be those who can optimise costs, deliver audiences, and demonstrate that delivery.

     

    Pankaj Raj, Director, Search Value Consultants Pvt Ltd

    The M&E sector is poised to double in size by 2017. With a surge in digitization and a future forward election year approaching, the sector is poised to see sustainable growth.

    It’s easier today for global media organisations to dig deep in the market. They have understood localisation of content and strategy is the biggest leverage in the market.

    To produce this for the consuming millions, it is necessary to tap into relevant talent which now upgrades itself as fast as technology.

    The job market in the M&E has been slow in the last few quarters but there is still a lot opportunity for people having three specific competencies

     

    1) Ability to work and deliver in chaos and difficult situations

    2) People who have a genuine consumer and customer connect

    3) Can reinvent themselves with changing times and situations and regulations. What got me here is not going to take me further.

     

    Another trend we are picking up is the opening up of relatively unheard of sectors in the media space - digital, digitised distribution, VFX, online video, films finally seeing a level of corporatisation, the opportunities are still aplenty for the right people. One needs people with new skills to run these domains and hence this opens up parallel industries of training, creativity and new age leadership modes.

     

    Lastly, the sector seems to be open to the “non-media” talent like never before. There are many examples of people who joined the sector from consumer facings business backgrounds and have made a success of themselves.

     

    Sarabjeet Sachar, Founder & CEO, Aspiration

    The media sector is in a bad shape at the moment with the advertising revenues plummeting by significant levels. With reducing value of rupee, rising inflation etc traditional mediums like newspaper, television, radio, out of home etc are either in a static state or have gone down. If one were to see the hiring trends taking place right now, it is taking place in the digital and mobile domains. It will probably take a long time for a recovery to happen; I presume it will take even longer after the elections are over. If an economy like US takes about five years, we may take double of that to return to normalcy.

     

    From the business perceptive, the only domains where there is action being witnessed is experiential marketing and digital and mobile. Also, hiring is taking place at the junior level while at the middle and senior level there is hardly anything being witnessed.