Singapore's media industry is aggressively training and recruiting professionals in support of the burgeoning sector.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) says some 10,000 jobs are expected to be created in the industry over the next six years.
But more immediate are the jobs and apprenticeship places on offer within the creative industries and by the multi-agency Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office.
Amid the gloomy economic environment, there is a bright spark within the fast changing media industry.
Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) Lee Boon Yang said: "Despite the recession and retrenchments, the demand for creative talent remains robust with companies still on the lookout for good staff."
The good news is that the media industry tends to do better during a downturn.
CEO of MDA, Christopher Chia, said: "It is said that sometimes it is actually anti-cyclical. If the economy generally goes down, the media sector actually comes up and one reason we found behind this is that it (media) allows people to be actually entertained at a cost much lower than say, to travel somewhere else. So it does allow a lot of consumption to actually happen."
For a start, some 300 skilled jobs and over 400 apprenticeship places are on offer within the creative industries.
Another 450 jobs will be created over the next one to two years for start-ups within the Interactive and Digital Media sector.
This will be done through supporting 150 iJAM Jump-start and Mentor projects to the tune of S$50,000 per project.
On top of that, up to 6,000 individuals are expected to get media training this year.
Dr Chia said: "The whole idea is really a continuum of skills -- from very experienced people who need to upgrade to people who are thinking of moving into this sector. So it's conversion skills as well."
Dr Lee says companies like Japanese game studio Koei Entertainment plans to double the size of its operations in Singapore adding up to 60 new staff over the next two years.
Likewise, Ubisoft is looking to expand its headcount from 50 to 300, while Lucasfilms' studio in Singapore is also expanding and looking to hire digital artists.
Separately, a public service broadcast animation programme called "Once Upon A Cyberspace", targetted at 10 to 14 year olds, was also launched.
The aim of the programme is to raise awareness on responsible use of new media.
The series comprises six short clips which are slated for broadcast on April 6 and will run for six weeks.
The initiative comes under the S$10 million Cyber Wellness fund.
To find out more about the changing media landscape, you can come down to the four-day exhibition at Marina Square.
There are also 40 fringe activities to be held islandwide during the entire month of March. The idea is to get people interested, boost consumption and hopefully attract the right kind of people for when the economic upswing happens.
- Channel News Asia
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