The Supply of Cultural Skills and Training Research Report, 2008

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage commissioned The Nielsen Company in early 2008 to examine the skills and training needs in the Cultural sector, specifically across eight distinct sub-sectors; namely libraries and archives, museums, historic heritage, music, the performing arts, screen, literature and the visual arts.

Executive Summary

Introduction

  • The Ministry for Culture and Heritage commissioned The Nielsen Company in early 2008 to examine the skills and training needs in the Cultural sector, specifically across eight distinct sub-sectors; namely libraries and archives, museums, historic heritage, music, the performing arts, screen, literature and the visual arts.
  • In examining the skills needs within the sector it is important to distinguish between skills shortages and skills gaps. Skills shortages occur when employers have difficulty filling job vacancies because of a lack of individuals applying to fill the vacancies, while skills gaps refer to the deficiencies within the existing workforce in terms of their capability to carry out their current roles.
  • The Cultural sector is relatively small in terms of employment share. Falling under the Cultural and Recreational Services industry, this group is the third smallest industry in New Zealand, accounting for only 2.7% of all employed people in 2007.
  • Overall, a New Zealand Institute of Economic Research show in their Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion that a net 46% of all businesses reported a difficulty in finding skilled labour, while a net 33% reported a similar difficulty in finding unskilled labour to fill jobs in the December 2007 quarter.
  • The New Zealand labour market is made up of nearly a fifth (19%) of people who have no formal qualifications, while a further 24% have only obtained school level qualifications. As such, more than two fifths of the current workforce may lack the skills that a modern economy requires.
  • Statistics New Zealand show that in 2001 there were just over 100,000 people employed in paid Cultural employment (that is within the Cultural sector and for organisations in other sectors), making up approximately 6% of all people in paid employment.

The Cultural Sector

  • The business base within the Cultural sector is dominated by the Visual Arts sub-sector, accounting for 33% of all organisations, and Music and the Performing Arts (28%) and Screen (25%).
  • One in seven (15%) Cultural organisations employ 10 or more staff, compared with fewer than 5% for the economy as a whole.
  • While three quarters (75%) of the organisations surveyed do not have any volunteer staff working for them, one in twenty (6%) are entirely staffed by volunteers.
  • Most organisations in the sector (65%) employ freelancers or contractors, rising to 81% in the Screen sub-sector.
  • Three fifths (63%) of Cultural organisations have been operational for 10 years or more and only 1% had been established within 12 months of the survey. Younger organisations are more likely to be found in the Visual Arts sub-sector, with this sub-sector accounting for more than half (57%) of those organisations that have been trading for two years or less.
  • The Literature sub-sector accounts for 30% of employees working in the Cultural sector (which is more than three times its share of the business base), while more than one in ten employees work in the Libraries and
  • Archives and Museums sub-sectors (twice their share of the business base).
  • Half of the employees in organisations with two or more staff work in either Managerial or Professional roles (22% and 28% respectively).
  • Nearly two thirds (63%) of organisations within the sector with two or more employees had remained the same size as compared with 12 months prior to the survey, with a net +13% having taken on extra staff.
  • Little variation is shown between the different sub-sectors, although the Screen sub-sector does appear to have grown the most, with 37% of organisations reporting having taken on more staff than 12 months ago.
  • When asked to predict staff numbers over the next 12 months, almost a quarter of organisations believe they will have more staff than they currently employ, while just over 70% expect their staff numbers to remain about the same (a net increase of +20%).
  • The Literature sub-sector is most likely to anticipate no change in staff numbers over the next 12 months (87%), while the Screen, and the Music and the Performing Arts sub-sectors are shown to be the most positive about employment levels in the future (a net increase of +28% and +26% respectively).

Historic Heritage Sub-sector

  • Due to a low number of contacts for the Historic Heritage sub-sector, it was not possible to interview a sufficient number of organisations as part of the wider business survey. Instead, we summarise the results from the seven business survey interviews together with the five more in-depth stakeholder interviews.
  • Most organisations in this sub-sector have been operating for over 10 years and staffing levels vary with a mix of full- and part-time employees. Key employed positions are professionals, managers, community and personal service workers, clerical/admin staff, technicians and trades workers.
  • Although this sub-sector has a relatively low staff turnover, many of the organisations experience skill shortages due to lack of training at the tertiary level.
  • Organisations do have skills shortages in professional or technical roles, particularly conservation architects, building conservators, architectural historians, heritage engineering, planners, and world heritage advisors.
  • Given the nature of the work, skills gaps tend to be very specific and technical (e.g. heritage identification/engineering, architectural historians, archaeological knowledge), but are similar across the sub-sector.
  • All organisations interviewed agree that the top priority in addressing these skills shortages and skills gaps is to address the supply of skilled entrants to the sector. There is a general consensus for the need for more courses in tertiary institutions, and/or even in high schools, that give a good basic level of understanding of the sector.

Skills Shortages

  • When asked if they had any current vacancies in their organisation, one fifth (21%) indicated that they had at least one position available (around 4% of the current workforce). These vacancies are more likely to replace existing positions rather than represent newly created posts.
  • More than four in ten (44%) of organisations with vacancies are finding it difficult to fill all or some of these positions, rising to 75% for Literature sub-sector.
  • Most Cultural organisations with a hard to fill vacancy (86%) are struggling to attract suitably qualified or experienced staff and/or even a sufficient number of applicants to select from.
  • All organisations with two or more staff were asked if they believe the Cultural sector was suffering from a general shortage of staff at the moment. While the majority (55%) disagreed with this statement, two fifths (40%) did believe that there was a shortage of staff. The Libraries and Archives sub-sector has the most organisations which believe that there is a shortage in staff (55%), compared with three fifths of organisations in the Screen and Visual Arts sub-sectors which do not (62% and 61% respectively). 
  • Libraries and Archives are experiencing a shortage of Professionals (82%), while organisations in the Screen sub-sector have difficulties with Technicians and trades workers (71%). Community and personal service workers are reported as the biggest shortage in the Museum sub-sector (31%) and Sales workers in the Literature sub-sector (60%).
  • Most organisations (64%) feel the current staff shortages will stay the same, while a net 8% believe that they will get worse.

Skills Gaps

  • Two fifths (44%) of organisations report skills gaps among existing employees. The biggest skills gaps are found amongst sales workers (32%), and technician and trades workers (31%), while one fifth (21%) of organisations report skills gaps among their managers.
  • More than half (52%) of the organisations that indicated they had staff who are not fully proficient at their job attributed this to the staff member(s) being recently recruited.
  • Four in ten freelancers working in the Cultural sector admitted to not being fully proficient in their job, with the most commonly cited causes being their inability to keep up with change (36%) and lack of training (34%).
  • Three in ten organisations provide internal training (30%) or some form of mentoring or peer training (29%). Just over one fifth (22%) provide some form of external training but only 5% send staff to universities or tertiary education organisations.

Training Provision

  • While two thirds (67%) of organisations with two or more staff in the Cultural sector have a Business Plan, this drops to 40% for those with a Training Plan.
  • When asked if they formally assess whether individual staff have skills gaps, more than half (54%) indicate that they do.
  • Organisations in the Libraries and Archives sub-sector appear more likely to have a Training Plan and/or a Training Budget (68% and 93% respectively). Only two sub-sectors, Libraries and Archives and Museums, have more than half their organisations reporting that they have a dedicated budget for training.
  • Nearly three fifths (57%) of organisations with two or more staff have arranged off-the-job training or development for their employees over the last 12 months.
  • In the 12 months prior to the survey, one third (32%) of organisations with two or more staff provided no on-the-job training for any staff member, rising to 43% for off-the-job training.
  • More than one third (35%) of organisations in the Visual Arts sub-sector do not provide any training for their staff at all, compared with 25% of all organisations in the Cultural sector. In contrast, nearly two fifths (38%) of organisations in the sector provide training to all their staff.
  • Smaller organisations (those with two to nine employees) are less likely to provide training, 31% compared with less than 3% of those with 25 or more employees.

Conclusions

  • The research has clearly highlighted the extent of the challenge facing the sector in terms of addressing both skills shortages and skills gaps. While some stakeholders commented on the relatively stable nature of the workforce in some sub-sectors, a net 13% of organisations had taken on more staff in the 12 months prior to the survey and a net 20% expect to recruit more staff over the next 12 months.
  • Attracting more (young) people to the sector is a key challenge for Cultural organisations.
  • Some organisations and professional bodies in the sector are offering and/or promoting the use of student internships as a means to attract more young people to the sector.
  • The Cultural workforce includes freelancers and contractors, and volunteers, the latter in some sub-sectors more than others, who traditionally are less likely to receive any training or professional development.
  • In spite of the extent of skills shortages and skills gaps outlined in the report, it is evident from Chapter 6 that employers are not doing enough to address their own needs.
  • In the 12 months prior to the survey, one third of organisations with two or more staff provided no on-the-job training for any staff member, rising to 43% for off-the-job training.
  • Smaller organisations (those with two to nine employees) are less likely to provide training, 31% compared with less than 3% of those with 25 or more employees.
  • Individually, small organisations can find it difficult to pay for training, identify their own skills needs and/or seek to liaise with a local education or training provider. This is where Professional Bodies or initiatives to encourage small organisations to pool their skills needs can play an important role.
  • To increase the quality of demand from employers for training, Government, at all levels, might need to be seen to act first. Publicly funded organisations in the sector could be used as exemplars of best practice with regard to workforce development and meeting the skills needs of the future.
  • Government funding could also be used to encourage better workforce development practices across the sector, possibly by steering funding to those organisations committed to staff training.
  • The sector needs to present one voice to education and training providers and other stakeholders to help them address their skills needs.
  • In general, stakeholders are not satisfied with the current level of provision by tertiary education organisations.
  • To improve the job-readiness of students entering the sector, tertiary education organisations should seek to improve the links with the sector, and possibly seek to recruit people from the sector (e.g. former dancers).
  • In terms of influencing the supply of skills further work may also be required to identify the specific vocational qualifications that are relevant to the sector.

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Page last updated: August 26, 2008

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