Nearly half (48.1%) of Canadian digital media agencies expect year-over-year growth in revenues, according to a new report.
The study from agency Teehan Lax, entitled ‘Pixel to Product’ found that the average salary of a Canadian digital media professional is between $40,000 and $59,999 and the average age is 28.2 years old.
The report said that 73.4 per cent of digital media agencies will increase the size of their labour force in 2011, and that they are looking for people with skills in mobile application development, social media marketing and community management.
Canada’s digital industries are mainly small businesses, most of which are less than eight years old, have eschewed government financing and expect revenue to increase in the next year, according to the Pixel to Product research study, a new survey that attempts to paint an accurate portrait of Canada’s digital media industry.
The results of the survey, which polled more than 200 Canadian companies and 1,050 individuals during the past seven months, will be presented Wednesday at the annual Mesh technology conference in Toronto. Last year, Pixel to Product was awarded a $40,000 research grant from digital experience agency Teehan Lax to conduct the survey.
Fuelled by the growth of the mobile application, digital marketing and social media industries, Canada has quickly evolved into a hotbed of technology innovation, and the report represents the most complete snapshot to date of the country’s emerging digital economy.
“Digital agencies in Canada are projecting between 10 per cent and 24 per cent growth in revenue when compared to their revenue generation efforts in 2010. When you compare this data against the 68 per cent of reporting agencies who indicated they have a labour force size between one and 10 employees, this is incredible growth and is a good indicator of the strength of our economy,” Justin Kozuch, lead researcher for the study, called Pixel to Product, said.
According to the survey, 68% of Canadian digital media companies employ fewer than 10 people, while 22% employ between 11 and 50 employees. However, the digital workforce is likely to increase in 2011, with 75% of respondents saying they plan to hire more Canadians this year.
Over the next year, companies will be looking for employees who can help them make the most of the exploding popularity of smartphone applications and social media services such as Facebook and Twitter.
About 47% of respondents said they would be looking to hire app developers, while 44% are looking to hire social media marketing and monitoring professionals and 32% will be searching for community managers to help their companies interact with customers.
Nearly half (48%) of all responding companies forecast revenue growth of between 10% and 24% for 2011.
“However, the real litmus test will be to see if this growth can be sustained as our economy begins to lag slightly behind our American counterparts, and if the brain drain of talent to the U.S.
continues to trend upwards over the next three years and beyond,” Kozuch wrote in his report.
Canada’s digital workforce also appears to be educated almost exclusively in Canada — more than 90% of respondents said they completed their education in Canada. About 46% of digital media professionals said their highest level of education was an undergraduate degree.
Thanks to the number of companies looking to tap into the power of social networks, including Twitter and Facebook, nearly two-thirds of respondents (59%) said they were full-time employees of an “advertising, marketing or digital agency.”
Nearly 47% of employees in the digital media industry earn between $40,000 and $80,000 per year, while less than 4% earn in excess of $150,000. About 68% of the respondents were male, which Mr. Kozuch believes represents the domestic industry as a whole.
Source: www.teehanlax.com