{"id":109,"date":"2009-08-20T02:24:14","date_gmt":"2009-08-20T02:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.renando.com\/blog\/?p=109"},"modified":"2021-01-15T21:38:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T21:38:59","slug":"information-media-and-telecomunications-employment-is-down-and-the-future-is-bright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidewaysthoughts.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/information-media-and-telecomunications-employment-is-down-and-the-future-is-bright\/","title":{"rendered":"Information, media and telecommunications: employment is down, and the future is bright"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bit of investigation for an upcoming research project provides an opportunity for bloggable show-and-tell.\u00a0 Our industry is one with a colorful past and a bright future, despite the direction on the graph.<\/p>\n

Employment Levels by Industry<\/h2>\n

There are many measures for the economy, including revenue, costs, profit, social investments, and greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0 We specifically look at employment data based on its value from a wide variety of perspectives, including politics (voters), marketing (consumers), entertainment (audience), non-profit enterprises (volunteers), and human resources (staff).<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

A look over the past 25 years paints a picture of steady growth across most industries.\u00a0 Manufacturing is an exception deserving our compassion, as it sheds jobs on a near continual basis due largely to offshore competition.\u00a0 Given my day job, my particular interest is in what the Australian Bureau of Statistics terms the \u201cinformation, media and telecomunications\u201d sector.\u00a0 Specifically, I am curious in the impacts that the global financial crisis (GFC) have had on the industry relative to the impact of \u201cdotcom\u201d and the telecom bust of 2000.<\/p>\n

Dotcom and employment<\/h2>\n

Most say \u201cdotcom\u201d started around 1995, around the time Netscape realised over $2 billion in value at the end of the first day of trading without having returned a cent in profit.\u00a0 Between \u201997 and \u201900, over 12,000 \u201cInternet companies\u201d caught the wave and floated on the US market.\u00a0 The graph shows Australia may have been a bit late on the uptake and delayed on the dip, as 5,000 of those startup companies went under in 2000.<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

While the closely associated but distinct telecom crash resulted in a drop of $2 trillion in US stock market value and a loss of over 500,000 jobs, dotcom itself was not the bust that everyone made it out to be.\u00a0 Sure, there was a dysfunctional circular reference with venture capitalists and speculative prospects each trying to grab a higher rung on a ladder that didn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 However, the underlying advances in technology still had value for business.\u00a0 The industry matured, and most of us found our way back into some sort of gainful employment.<\/p>\n

What I now find interesting is that our industry\u2019s employment levels have returned to post-dotcom levels.\u00a0 Between 2000 and 2007, industry staffing levels increased 13%.\u00a0 Those gains were lost in 12 months by 2008.\u00a0 Having to hire staff as a year-on-year Deloittes Fast 50 company, I will say that the 13% provides a tangible relief in available staff.\u00a0 We were fortunate to have the benefit of a positive culture and strong word-of-mouth, but continued staff growth post-GFC is a bit easier.<\/p>\n

A healthy negative growth?<\/h2>\n

The Information, Media and Telecom industry demonstrates a unique pattern, shared only by the related Admin and Support Serrvices sector.\u00a0 We have experienced a successive decrease in growth over the past decade culminating in contraction over the past three years.<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Influences on the numbers are so much more than can be explained away in a brief blog.\u00a0 But looking at the big picture across industries provides a few take-aways:<\/p>\n