BANGALORE: The Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry is entering a strong growth phase, backed by rising consumer payments and advertising revenues across all sectors. According to a CII-PwC study, the revenue from advertising alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13 per cent and will exceed 60,000 crores (US$ 9.64 billion) by 2018.

This growth trajectory is being emulated by the significant rise in demand for professionals in this industry and related fields. The past one-year has been particularly buoyant for the Indian M&E Industry, especially in terms of hiring activity. 

TimesJobs RecruiteX data shows that the demand for entertainment, media & journalism professionals went up by 9 per cent between May 2014 and May 2015. Demand is up for roles such as copy editors, content writers/managers, social media managers, media and ad sales managers, production managers, producers, business development professionals, client managers and media marketing professionals.

"The rise in talent demand in this industry can be directly attributed to the growth of multimedia consumption in India with the increased penetration of digital media, satellite TV, and the wide scale adoption of smartphones. The prime minister's personal use of social media and the government’s initiatives like Digital India have further enhanced the growth of these sectors. Wider acceptability and use of internet-based apps have also resulted in a rise in demand for social media professionals. Skills and specializations are highly sought in areas of blogging, project management and writing apart from in-depth knowledge and understanding of social media platforms." says Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com

The Indian M&E sector wants young talent to fuel this growth phase. TimesJobs.com data shows that over 60 per cent of the demand in the media & entertainment sector is for entry and junior-level professionals with up to five years of experience.

That the Indian M&E Industry is in an aggressive expansion mode is also reflected in the increased demand for organization growth accelerators such as sales/business development professionals (the figure stood at 39% of the overall talent demand in June 2015).

The other skill areas in high demand are professionals in IT/software, advertising/PR and marketing/media planning professionals (35% of the total talent demand) indicate a massive push towards digitization and tapping the online market.

Metro-centric Demand: Most jobs in Delhi and Mumbai

Close to 50 per cent of the demand for media & entertainment professionals comes from metros, with Mumbai and Delhi NCR claiming highest share of the jobs (over 30%) in June 2015, according to TimesJobs.com data.

Among other key locations, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad have the highest share of jobs for media professionals.

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