One in 20 screen industry jobs, many of them freelance, have been lost to the Covid pandemic, a study has found.
Creative UK Group – a not-profit body formed in 2019 by the merger of Creative Industries Federation and Creative England – said the workforce in TV, radio, film and photography had shrunk by 12,800 since March 2020, equivalent to 5% of the overall workforce.
Taken as a whole, the creative industries have lost more than 110,000 jobs.
The government’s Production Restart Scheme has protected 44,000 jobs in the period, according to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and culture secretary Oliver Dowden.
The screen sector’s contribution to the economy has fallen by £2.6bn, or 12%, over the 15-month period.
The group has launched a campaign, #wearecreative, that calls for 20% extra spend an investment in the sector, which it estimates could create 2,800 screen industry jobs and generate an extra £1.2bn by 2025. For the wider creative sector, this extends to 300,000 jobs and £132bn.
It is calling on individuals to promote their creative work, and the value it brings, on social media using the #wearecreative hashtag, tagging in their local MP.
The group is also urging creatives to write to their MPs to sign up to a pledge to support the creative industries in the run-up to the government’s Spending Review. This would commit them to supporting investment into creative ideas that help combat social problems, regenerate communities and create ‘future-proof’ jobs.
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