GENEVA - Government, and employers' and workers' representatives from around 50 countries discussed at an ILO meeting in Geneva (18-22 October) the trends affecting several occupational groups in the media, culture and graphical sector, which are at the forefront of the changes caused by the growing importance of information and communication technologies (ICT).
The report notes that computerization is tending to create jobs in the sector rather than killing them, although some segments are experiencing serious declines in employment.
Conversely, the report also observes that the explosion of new and multimedia is prompting growing concerns over the level of quality of working conditions and of output in the media, cultural and graphical sectors, and presents new challenges in terms of training for jobs in the media and entertainment industry.
Among those professionals whose jobs have been affected by the impact of ICT "the demand for journalists remains high and will continue to do so", says the report.
In the US, for example, research quoted by the report predicts a 16 per cent increase in jobs for writers and editors between 2002 and 2012, a 6.2 per cent increase for news analysts, reporters and correspondents, a 13.6 per cent increase for photographers, a 26.4 per cent increase for film and video editors, and a 21.9 per cent increase for graphic designers.
"For some occupational groups, particularly those engaged in providing creative content, the multimedia revolution promises tremendous growth in opportunities for work as distribution channels multiply," adds the ILO report.
Employment in the production of films and audiovisual products in 2003 in Europe stood at over 1 million jobs, compared to around 850,000 in 1995. The American motion picture industry employed around 600,000 workers in 2002, compared with 221,000 in 1985. Some of that growth can be attributed to technology-related work in fields such as computer-generated digital production, visual special effects technologies, and systems and network management, says the report.
But according to the ILO, there are several questions related to the quality of work, access to job opportunities and specific issues like copyright protection for the material which writers and performers produce.
The meeting also examined how the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process has reflected on issues relating to work and quality in the sector, as well as possible relevant topics for the second phase of the WSIS (Tunis, October 2005).
Note 3: The future of work and quality in the information society: The media, culture, graphical sector. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on the Future of Work and Quality in the Information Society: The Media, Culture, Graphical Sector, Geneva, 2004. Price: 15 Swiss francs. ISBN 92-2-115554-4.