Agency staff approaching the often calamitous 40th birthday are to be offered free retraining through a new partnership between the IPA and industry charity Nabs.
The saying life begins at 40 could not be more out of place in the agency community, where middle-age staff are often forced out of the door; 41- to 50-year-olds account for just 13.5% of agency staff, while the over-50s represent just over 5%.
Three years ago, then IPA director general Hamish Pringle claimed there was a “triple whammy” which resulted in over-50s vanishing from agencies.
Citing procurement and agency culture as the main reasons for a dearth of over 50s, Pringle also said people in that age group are not entirely blameless as they rarely retrain.
The two bodies believe the issue is so serious that they are specifically targeting those in the 30-50 age group, as it represents the largest employee fall-out rate in the advertising and media industry, something both organisations are keen to address. This is the first time the training courses will be available to non-IPA members.
The courses will cover key areas such as; digital strategy, coding, planning in a digital age, presentation skills and negotiating and winning with procurement.
IPA head of professional development courses Louise Hinchliffe said: “Working together with Nabs was a no-brainer. Both organisations share the same values and desire to help people continue to develop for their benefit and that of our industry. Our courses are specially designed to do this, teaching new skills, refreshing old ones and ensuring our talented workforce remains part of our industry for many years to come.”
Nabs chief executive Zoe Osmond added: “These training courses aim to focus on what we call a high risk zone of ad industry workers. Over half of the industry fit within this age bracket and only 5% will still be employed in the industry by the age of 50. This leaves a huge gap in experience that can be hard to fill, so retaining these workers is very important. These courses will give people the retraining support they need, so that they can focus on being the best that they can be.”
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IPA and Nabs join forces to fight ’40 and out’ policies in agencies http://t.co/0jdOQ6OACb #advertising #directmarketing #digitalmarketing