1997 Survey of Toronto's Multimedia Industry

Preliminary Findings
Part 3

by Shauna Brail, May 1997
© Copyright 1997 Shauna Brail

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Contents | Executive Summary | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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Features & Practices of Employment in Multimedia

The following tables display data on employment in multimedia firms. The data are presented showing employment figures for all survey respondents and also for all survey respondents excluding the largest and smallest firms (EL&S). Employment figures for the largest firm (comprising more than one-quarter of total employment reported by respondents) are shown to skew the data quite significantly in comparison to averages for the industry as a whole, especially with respect to the proportion of full time workers and also the proportion of technical employment.

Figures for both absolute employment and percentage of total employment are presented in the table below. Furthermore, it should be noted that the number of respondents to questions based on current employment was higher than the number of respondents to questions based on employment in February 1996. This is partly in response to the fact that 14% of respondents were from firms established in 1996 or later.

The employment data in Table 5 shows the breakdown of employees by job-type. While the majority of employment in multimedia is full time, more than one-quarter of all employees (EL&S) are contract employees, with short term contract employees (essentially freelancers) comprising the bulk of contract activity. There has been a slight increase in full time employment over the past year, with small subsequent declines in part time and short term contract employment. Average full time employment in firms has increased by one person between 1996 and 1997, though the median of 3 persons per firm remains the same. Employment growth in multimedia appears not to have occurred as an overall trend within existing firms over the past year, but rather in the startup of new firms.

TABLE 5: Employment in Multimedia

	Total Employment		Excluding largest & Smallest Firms
	Current	February 1996	Current	February 1996
Full Time (FT)	72%	69%	63%	60%
Part Time	10%	11%	12%	12%
Long Term Contract	5%	6%	8%	8%
Short Term Contract	13%	14%	18%	20%
TOTAL	1419	1148	1026	822
Average FT Employment	13	12	9	8
Median FT Employment	3	3	3	3
Standard Deviation	44	40	16	15
	n = 77	n = 67	n = 75	n = 65

The most common skill categories of employees in multimedia are creative, technical and management workers. Figure 9 presents the breakdown of current employment by both job category and skill category. This figure shows that creative workers are the most common full time employees (37%), followed by management/sales employees. Technical positions comprise 24% of total full time employment. Part time employment is lead by creative, technical and other and then management/sales employees, in that order. Other employees in the part time category generally involve clerical and office support staff. Again, employees working on the creative aspects of multimedia projects comprise the majority of both long and short term contract workers in the industry, followed by technical and then management/sales employees. Figure 10 shows that overall, creative employees form the core of multimedia employment with 41% of all jobs falling into this category. This is followed by employment in technical and management/sales positions contributing approximately 25% each of total employment.

FIGURE 9: Employment by Job Type and Skill Category (Excluding Largest and Smallest Firms)

FIGURE 10: Employment in Multimedia by Skill Category

Subcontracting Practices in Multimedia

The practice of subcontracting out work and taking in work as a subcontractor to other firms is viewed as an important indicator of intra-industry activity. While it may not increase the revenues of the industry as a whole, the practice can have significant implications for job creation prospects and the development of specialized firms focusing on particular activities. Survey respondents indicated that an average of 23.8% of their work, by revenues, was subcontracted out to other firms. An almost equal percentage of work (22.9%) was reportedly taken in, in the form of subcontracting activity to other firms.

Table 6 identifies the types of work conducted by multimedia firms and/or used in the development of multimedia products and identifies whether or not the work is conducted within the firm, subcontracted to another firm, or conducted both in-house and subcontracted out. The most common types of work conducted in-house by individual firms are: animation, artwork and illustration, content research, programming and writing and editing. In terms of management activities, sales and marketing, customer service and public relations are also generally conducted in-house. The most frequent types of work subcontracted out to other firms are: cinematography, musical composition, packaging and voice over. The data presented indicates that while in most instances, multimedia related work is conducted in-house, there is a good deal of subcontracting activity occurring within the industry. This has important implications for the development of new firms serving the existing industry base, as well as the generation of income and employment and working networks within the industry.

TABLE 6: Work Conducted

Work Conducted	In House	Subcontract Out	Both	N/A
Animation	33%	23%	21%	22%
Artwork & Illustration	46%	20%	30%	5%
Cinematography	20%	35%	18%	27%
Content Research	56%	9%	22%	13%
Customer Service	72%	1%	6%	21%
Game Design	17%	5%	4%	74%
Live Action	10%	15%	10%	65%
Musical Composition	12%	53%	12%	22%
Packaging	28%	35%	11%	26%
Programming	46%	18%	28%	7%
Public Relations	57%	7%	11%	25%
Sales & Marketing	73%	1%	17%	8%
Special Effects	28%	20%	12%	40%
Voice Over	15%	44%	12%	28%
Writing & Editing	47%	10%	33%	10%

n = 81, bold = highest % in category

Contents | Executive Summary | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4