The UKís digital media industries remain upbeat, with sustained confidence in employment opportunities and optimism about current market conditions, according to a new survey released today from Chinwag (http://www.chinwag.com/digitalpulse), a London-based digital media community network. The ëDigital Pulseí is a new monthly initiative from Chinwag, in association with Gabriele Skelton, to take the pulse of professionals and create a ëconfidence indexí for the expanding new media sector.
The Digital Pulse index for March 2008 is 122.1. (An index of 100 equals a neutral response, on a scale of 0-200).
The results reveal an overall positive view, with 72% of respondents positive or very positive about current market conditions for digital business, showing resilience in the face of broader economic instability. Amid the flurry of positive indicators uncovered by the survey, the March results also note that confidence in the future is decreasing, with confidence with conditions in six months time falling by 8%.
While digital recruitment professionals are flying high, across all areas of new media salary expectations were also high. As many as 62% of respondents thought their salary didnít reflect their true worth, with greatest dissatisfaction amongst client-side and online publishing professionals.
Overall, permanent staff were 12% more confident than freelancers' while the agency sector ñ in web, advertising and marketing disciplines - boasted the highest confidence and salary satisfaction. Online publishing, in contrast, was the least confident - with 36% giving a negative response to current conditions.
According to Chinwag MD Sam Michel: ìThe results show the digital sector is confident despite the stream of negative stories about the economy. This appears to buck the current trend without letting optimism run wild, with confidence expected to fall slightly in six months. Hopefully, the bitter lessons of the post-2001 dotcom winter have been well learntî.
Chinwag launched the Digital Pulse to provide professionals working in digital media with a barometer for the industryís health. This is particularly important as the sector matures and companies need to plan growth, recruitment and business development.
To obtain the full report email editor@chinwag.com . For a summary of results, to take the survey, and to sign-up for the quarterly reports, please visit:
Digital workforce stays upbeat as new media shrugs off economic insecurities
.
