The biggest occupational skill changes anticipated from now until 2010 are likely to be within the higher level occupations associated with business and creative strategy.  Changes in the industry will result in a demand for skills around, for example, programme innovation, deal structuring, investor relations, cross-media ownership and fluency in IP issues.

A list of generic job profiles (not specific to one industry) for those new to the media sector are also available on the Skillset website.  Each profile provides general information about working in these roles across all formats and industries, including: what are the roles; essential knowledge and skills; typical career routes and training and qualifications.  

Source: Skillset website 2005 and Skillset 2005a

It is estimated that up to half of the actual available labour pool is freelance in the audio visual industries.

Freelance working is a very significant feature for those occupational groups involved in programme making.  This is expected to grow as a result of the growth in the independent production industry.

Levels of freelancing vary greatly by industry and occupation in the media.  In areas not directly involved in production, the whole workforce is permanently employed.  In the three interactive media industries: between 10-20% of the workforce is freelance; 20-25% in television and radio; and up to 40-60% in independent production, animation, special effects, commercials and corporate production.

Source: Skillset website 2005 and Skillset 2005a

There are over 100 different specialist roles covering a wide range of occupations and skill areas in the television industry.  Many of these occupations require specialised training and skills. 

Changes in the television industry impacts on a range of occupations concerned with planning, funding, co-ordinating, versioning, aggregating, packaging and selling TV products and services.  These include the roles of producer, business development manager, managing director, market/audience analyst, scheduler and commissioning editor.  It is anticipated that an emphasis within these roles will be needed in order for the UK industry to fully develop and thrive over the next few years.

Source: Skillset 2005a

Source: Skillset Employment census 2006, figure 3.  Based on the 2006 Skillset employment Census data.  N.B.  Only counts those freelancers working on Census day and therefore underestimates the proportion of freelancers in the labour market by occupation. It also excludes 'other' occupational groups working in interactive media including generic roles such as IT, sales and marketing, and finance.

Skillset have provided an occupational index used in their reports whcih details groups, roles and examples of job titles.  See attached document for more information.