6th March 2025
Did you see the news?
Just last month, The Creative Industries Council revealed an outstanding statistic.
While the rest of the country finds its feet after a rough few years, the UK’s design sector is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the economy.
It’s exciting, isn’t it?
For years, creativity – and all it encompasses – has been largely undervalued and underappreciated in the workplace. That is starting to change.
Where before, businesses took the soft skill for granted; the vast surge in demand for design services shows a shift in beliefs.
“Design should be at the heart of driving jobs, skills and regional prosperity across the UK.” – Andy Haldane
Last year, the design industry contributed £97.4bn in GVA to the UK economy. That’s a 73% increase from 2010.
As revenue continues to climb, it’s generating interest from investors and start-ups alike. Truly. This year, opportunities have been opening in droves – particularly in the following sectors:
Brands like Jaguar Land Rover, Harrods, AKQA, and Big Active are almost constantly recruiting qualified creative talent for a range of design roles, creating a surging (but highly competitive) job market.
Sadly, it’s not all good news.
Despite such tremendous growth, businesses in the sector will soon have to face a harsh reality. There’s a devastating gap in our skills pipeline.
Just recently, the Design Council stepped forward to warn others of the impending issue; which has been caused by a decline in Design and Technology GCSEs.
“Entries have fallen by 68% from 2010 (299,422 entries) to 2021 (95,694 entries). The lack of early education puts the industry at risk – seven in ten designers surveyed for the research had a design GCSE.” – Design Week
Are you prepared for what’s to come?
Make no mistake.
Even if you’ve forecasted a positive boost in sales over the next few years, it isn’t quite time to relax. There’s some work to be done if you want to secure long-term survivability.
Why? Well, there’s no way around it.
Ultimately, the impending talent crisis will lead to great recruitment difficulties for all design companies. However, if you act fast, there’s no reason you can’t remain competitive with your talent attraction efforts.
Start by:
At the end of the day, combatting talent shortages in the creative sector isn’t going to be an instant process.
It will take time.
Employers in our space need to act today, looking to “reverse these worrying trends before the skills gap becomes unbridgeable.” – John Mathers
An industry-wide effort to increase the supply of qualified employees is bound to benefit us all.
While many organisations are certainly starting to feel the impacts of a talent shortage, it’s not quite become enough of a reality that the industry is panicking.
By being smart and strategic with your recruitment processes in the year ahead, you can gain a competitive advantage and secure access to the available job seekers in the market.
Start connecting with specialist industry recruiters like Ross Clifford & Associates, who can anticipate your talent needs and fill gaps before they become a problem.
Contact us today for more information.