LEADER: Who's going to invest in newcomers?

In today's depressed employment market, the mere pronouncement that advertising agencies are planning to step up hires in the current quarter is cause for celebration.

But is it really? By and large, agencies have pointedly said that they're in the market for experienced talent - that is staff who can step in and run with the ball, produce work for razor-thin margins and keep clients happy. But what about newcomers, the talent the industry desperately needs to renew itself - the David Drogas and the Pandey brothers of tomorrow?

If no one's ready to recruit them and invest in their career development, it's going to be slim pickings indeed tomorrow.