More Than Half of the U.K.’s TV & Film Workers are Unemployed

Bectu, the U.K.’s creative industries trade union, has found that 52 percent of local film and TV workers are out of work.

Bectu surveyed more than 2,300 film and TV workers across the U.K. The last time it conducted this research, in February, 68 percent of workers were unemployed. “The latest survey indicates a slow and small recovery as work in some areas picks up, although very few are benefitting,” Bectu notes.

Even as the sector slowly recovers from last year’s U.S. strikes, the survey found that staffers are considering leaving the sector; 38 percent plan to do so in the next five years, up from 24 percent in September of last year and 37 percent in February of this year. The situation is worse for the non-scripted sector, where 53 percent say they plan to leave the industry.

Per Bectu, 51 percent of drama workers are out of work, with unscripted TV at 57 percent. Only 6 percent of creative industries staffers have seen a full recovery in their employment since last year’s Hollywood strikes. Unemployment figures are higher amid Black, Asian and other minority workers.

Philippa Childs, the head of Bectu, noted, “The film and TV workforce has already faced incredible and unprecedented hardships throughout and following the pandemic and have now been hit by a second crisis that shows little signs of abating. Clearly, little has materially improved for the workforce and these discussions must be laser focused on how we can collectively make things better for workers, who are critical to the sector’s success but continue to bear the brunt of industry changes.”

Childs added: “Bectu has been holding regular discussions with U.K. broadcasters and other stakeholders to push for improved support mechanisms and with a new government in place, we are doing all we can to ensure workers’ needs are top of the political agenda. Our findings speak for themselves—if the industry doesn’t take tangible and collective action soon, we will see a huge skills exodus and a further deterioration in industry diversity, alongside prolonged mental health challenges and debilitating financial difficulties.”