Poll finds regional PR talent rated 'average'

The Aquent Asia-Pacific Salary Monitor 2004 reveals that PR professionals have suffered the greatest salary cuts of all of the marketing, communications and creative industries over recent years. According to Aquent area manager Duncan Cunningham, this is due to more conservative client spending patterns. "Because of the pressure on regional economies, coupled with an increasing trend for clients to see the return on PR and take it in-house, salaries have been impacted, people have moved out of the industry in search of stability and PR agencies have become far more focused on the specialisation of their businesses ," he said. The implications for the regional talent pool are stark, with survey revealing that most companies rated the available talent in the region as 'average'. The situation has been exacerbated by the sector's recent recovery, which has led to specific demand for experienced senior PR professionals, and a change in the traditional skills blueprint. "In general, the biggest demand in the PR sector is at the account director/practice head level," Cunningham said. "Agencies are looking for intelligent, strategic, commercially focused professionals who are able to be solutions- driven in front of the client as opposed to letting the writing skills speak for themselves." Edelman regional president Alan Vandermolen agreed with this assessment, but also noted that a limited talent pool may have more to do with a conservative agency mindset that favours traditional PR skills. "The skillset is changing -- we focus on multiple stakeholder strategies, so we focus on more than the core skills of traditional PR," he said. "In terms of specific PR and consultancy experience you could be challenged in some markets, but if you take a broader view, I think there is a lot of talent out there." According to the survey, specific areas of demand are for technology and corporate affairs specialists in Singapore, along with consumer, tech and financial PROs in China and Hong Kong. Indeed, the Greater China region is a bright spot; with high growth rates forecast. "While growth predictions are strong for Hong Kong, up to 86 per cent of companies in China will have significant requirements for permanent staff over the next 12 months," said Cunningham.