With the decline of annual retainers, could it be time to trim the fat?
Nicholas Cox, founder and director at creative recruitment agency, the People Place, examines the trends of project-based work rather than retainers, the growing reliance on creative freelancers, and the consequences on the creative industry.
As the founder of the People Place, a recruitment agency servicing the creative industry, I chat to different people and places every day about what they need and want. These conversations are always enlightening, but over the past couple of months they’ve become even more so. You see, I’ve started to notice a common theme emerging from both sides of the fence.
Australia-wide, workplaces and the creative workforce are undergoing a transformative shift. It’s an evolution shaped by economic pressures, tech advancements, and changing client needs.
Gone are the days of large annual retainers. We’ve now reached a point where project-based work is the norm, and so agencies are leaning on freelancers and contractors more and more. This strategy enables them to adapt their business model, assembling the ideal team for each specific brief. Horses for courses, as they say.
No, let’s NOT embrace it. The ditching of retainers and pushing staff onto short term contracts and gig work means no security, no holiday pay and the general decline in wellbeing for workers trying to plan for their future. Not to mention cookie-cutter agencies who thrive on the expertise of their staff having no point of difference as they share the same pool of freelancers. Oh and let’s push things to AI to make things even MORE ‘efficient’ in what is supposed to be a creative industry? Because large corporations find a way to cut costs by screwing humans doesn’t mean we should ‘embrace’ it.
There is no actual evidence in this article. It is mere anecdote and assertion. I get that it’s an opinion piece. But this feels so obviously self-serving as to be laughable. And duplicating the first four paragraphs doesn’t exactly add to its authority. For the record, what the author claims to see here is not what we observe at TrinityP3.
It is understandable that agencies with significant overheads have conditioned themselves (and their clients) to see the retainer model as the ideal option. Except that it’s not – particularly from the client side.
Project-based work is nothing new for those of us who have embraced the reality of delivering each and every time. Good work earns a shot at the next project. Mediocre work means you’re out.
In the context of wider economic uncertainty and unprecedented technological disruption, a project-to-project approach makes sense. It’s time for agencies to accept this, and ensure that they perform.