PAY WITH ACORNS AND YOU WILL GET… ACORNS
It is said that from the smallest seed can grow the greatest tree. As a “creative” I fully embrace this logic – ideas needs to be fed, cared for and nourished to grow into something truly magnificent. However it seems that the South African advertising industry doesn’t think it is necessary to irrigate, prune, fertilize and care for their creative talent – creatives are merely young trees ready for the logging.
Okay enough metaphor, what is really pissing me off here is the ridiculous state of creative salaries in South Africa. I have recently been nosing around the job market and it was with great amusement that I turned down a job for a mid-weight copywriter position in Cape Town with – wait for it – a salary of R10 000 without benefits. Let’s be clear here, I am qualified to the hilt with a BSocSci in marketing and psychology, a diploma in brand management from the AAA as well as another course in copywriting from Vega. I have worked in the industry for seven years with experience in marketing research, brand strategy as well as four years of copywriting experience with a number of well-known international brands.
To illustrate my point further, in the US, a JUNIOR copywriter earns between 25 000 and 35 000 US dollars a year, which is over R185 000! Mmm, the word brain drain comes to mind…
So here is my challenge to the big bad South African ad agencies out there: if you are wondering why there is “just no talent” in the ad industry today, put down your axes and pick up your watering cans (and your cheque books). The current state of affairs is just not good enough!
PS. Potential employers out there thinking that there are hundreds of copywriters out there who will take lower pay… Well you can look forward to a full-scale writers strike like the one held in America in 2007/2008. Just watch this space 
Amen to that!
emma - March 11, 2010 at 12:30 pm |
This is an attitude that prevails in many South African commercial sectors. I believe that it has been brought on by affirmative action. Here is the rational: employers feel that they are being forced to hire based on skin colour and believe that the result is a necessity to “train from scratch”, resulting in salaries hitting rock bottom. Even though this may not apply to a particular market sector, employers are using it as an excuse to increase profitability (read employee rape). There is no longer a concept like corporate responsibility in business, only greed, greed and more greed. It’s a house of cards, and the intelligent actors won’t be around to pick up the pieces!
Apocolypz - March 12, 2010 at 11:33 am |