Who hires the creatives?

Today we are releasing the third in a series of interactive data visualisations that shed light on the UK's Creative Economy. This latest visualisation shows the industries that hire creative workers.

(Click on the image below to view the visualisation) 

View the other data visualisations in the series

Method

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has defined a set of 'creative occupations' which includes architects, graphic designers, musicians and many more. Across the UK, there are around 1.8 million jobs in these creative occupations. The visualisation (a treemap) shows how these jobs are spread across different industries. For the complete list of creative occupations, and for further details on the method, please see the annexes to the DCMS’s Creative Industries Economic Estimates.

Answer

The treemap shows that the arts, entertainment and recreation sector contains the industry with the highest percentage of workers in creative occupations: 'Artistic creation'. But it is the information and communication sector that contains the two industries with the largest number of jobs in creative occupations: 'Computer programming activities' and 'Computer consultancy activities'. More broadly, the treemap shows that creative workers are spread across many different industries, and approximately half are outside the ‘Creative Industries’ as defined by the DCMS. For that reason Nesta’s policy recommendations are aimed at the wider ‘Creative Economy’.

Author

Cath Sleeman

Cath Sleeman

Cath Sleeman

Head of Data Discovery, Data Analytics Practice

Dr Cath Sleeman is the Head of Data Discovery.

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