The Arts Council England (ACE) recent suspension of advertising unpaid jobs on the ArtsJobs.org.uk website comes as a huge blow to young people who are looking to further their work experience within the arts industry. As a young person who relies upon the advertising of unpaid work to further my own experience and working connections within an industry that is difficult to break into, I am somewhat disappointed through this complete suspension.
Last week the home page for the ArtsJobs website included a notice that “due to the high volume of adverts for unpaid opportunities that contravene Minimum Wage Regulations we are temporarily suspending adverts for unpaid work, work experience, voluntary roles or internships.” Their message was furthered by stating they are working on “developments to the website that will help users to post genuine volunteering opportunities only and [that] stay within Minimum Wage Regulations.” but do they really realise the full extent of what they have just done?
The ArtsJobs website has been for many months now recorgnised as a valueable resource for young people (and for many people out of work who are ‘older’) to gain information easily, free of charge on opportunities through voluntary working roles within the arts industry. What the ArtsJobs website became was a place for organisations and individuals working within the arts to seek out people who are actively interested in gaining experience on projects, performances, work experience through internships, (the list is endless I’m sure) to a large audience who want and need this information.
ACE’s recent decision to separate their twitter accounts into paid work and unpaid work, shows the sheer demand for making distinctions between the paid and unpaid. Their naming of the account as ArtsOpps goes further to show exactly what this service was aiming to promote: opportunities. The suspension (whilst appears to be temporary as they improve their services) is without a doubt a dreadful mistake that is having a wide spread impact within the arts world and by people trying to gain experience.
A fine example of how the ArtsJobs listing service having helped to develop opportunities for young people can be seen with this very site. A Younger Theatre is supported by a group of 11 volunteers, nearly all of whom came to apply for positions to work and write with myself from adverts placed on the ArtsJobs website. As a completely unfunded website the lack of payment for writing is valued against the experience of attending press nights, reviewing shows, improving journalism skills and giving a strong sense of working as part of a team – this is valuable in an industry swapped with underpaid work and needing experience to work professionally. AYT is a place for opportunities, but no where near as a valuable resource as the ArtsJobs listing site is.
Naturally there is an important issue which shouldn’t be ignored: the fact that ACE are trying to deal with as suggested by the “contravening opportunities” in relation to the “Minimal Wage Regulations”. However it just makes me question how you can impose such regulations upon opportunities which are mostly going to be unpaid due to the nature of the work itself? With cuts taking place across the arts (see #artsfunding), and causalities such as Future Jobs (see our article here) already hit – the promotion of work experience/internships within the arts is going to be unpaid because there is a lack of funding for it otherwise!
Internships are valuable. Work experience within the arts is valuable. The ArtsJobs listings website for unpaid work is the most valuable resource for any young person wanting to gain experience within the arts: FACT.
Can ACE not see this? Minimal Wage Regulations should naturally be in place by organisations who can and should afford to pay the person involved in an opportunity, but the large majority of companies/indviduals advertising on the site geniunely need assistance by the army of volunteers who are equally eager to gain experience for their CVs. With the Edinburgh Fringe currently taking place it makes me wonder just how many companies used the ArtsJobs service to gain core team members in one of the most life changing and hardest festivals in the world.
Young people engage with the ArtsJobs listings website, just as much as those looking for opportunities and those giving the opportunities – they rely upon this service. Whilst ACE attempts to sort out the issues with “Minimal Wage Regulations” I hope they realise the damage they are causing through this suspension.
Until the suspension is lifted you might be able to find opportunities through websites such as GumTree (although I’m sure this is more full of ‘minimal wage’ problems than ArtsJobs!), GetIntoTheatre, or through watching twitter time lines closely.
You can read The Stage article on this topic here.
AYT is dedicated in supporting young people in the early stages of entering the theatre industry – if you have an opportunity that could further this please get in touch with us and we will gladly post it for free on the website. AYT also has a comprehensive list of theatres that operate internships that can be found here.
August 11th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I’m so glad to see someone writing about this, I hope it makes a difference. We struggled earlier this year when artsjobs suddenly stopped letting us post notices about workshops we were running and told us it had to be posted on ArtsNews -however, no-one reads artsnews so we ended up having to cancel the workshop because not enough people knew nor signed up -normally we are overwhelmed by applications…
I think that in these rather difficult times they have to be a support, not a hinderance to the arts and realise that it’s not only a network to advertise paid work, but to generate arts work as well -paid or not paid it all counts towards the artistic careers of many of us; such ridiculous bureaucratic regulation shows just how out of touch the arts council can be at times…
August 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Fully agree. This was an invaluable source of information for me as a recent graduate looking to improve his CV. While there needs to be a serious look at the way some larger organisations (who potentially can afford to pay their interns) abuse internships/voluntary positions, the people and initiatives that tended to post on Artopps were running small or benevolent operations looking for people with an intrest in the arts to lend a hand in return for some vital (and meaningful) experience. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite you face.
February 3rd, 2011 at 10:36 pm
I empathise with the likes of my Equity union branch; they don’t advertise unpaid work to members because they really don’t see the benefit of it when they’re campaigning for better pay and working conditions.
People working for free in the Arts is common. However, there is such a thing as the minimum wage, exploitation and most of all, paid work!! Can we also campaign for funding somewhere, for every unpaid opportunity we see? Is there a way we can have the best of both?
We should value our education and internships…but also remember that this slave labour, er i mean, ‘valuable experience’ shouldn’t just be expected as normal and acceptable. I think ACE have made the right decision because I was honestly bored of looking for paid jobs and just coming across ‘voluntary’ opportunities. As rewarding as these are, surely they can’t be allowed to take over and dwarf all of the PAID opportunities on the site.
There should be a separate section for networking and unpaid work. If the latter are so popular, it will build up and gain recognition over time due to demand, don’t you think? Surely when I am looking for these opportunities, I will specifically go there?
May 9th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
While it is important to have genuine learning opportunities in the arts (and I believe that legitimate work opportunities still exist) Minimum Wage is enshrined in law to make sure that those who do work in the field can LIVE once they have achieved a professional status. NMW also means that workers in the arts, especially the performing arts are selected on their merits and not on their ability to work for free.
Since NMW regulations were enshrined in law over 10 years ago, wages rose in almost every sector. The minimum wage was largely ignored in the arts, especially in the performing arts, and there has been little response (until now) for calls for enforcement. The practice of using unpaid and underpaid workers in the arts has depressed wages. Perhaps this has improved access at the (unpaid) ‘opportunity’ level, but those trying to make a living have suffered tremendously.
The Arts Group which campaigns for fair wages for entrants into the arts frequently quotes the following statistic:
‘The average lifetime earnings for those with a degree in the arts is lower than the earnings of someone with no degree at all.’
A principal cause of this is employers unlawfully ignoring minimum wage.
What you are seeing in the Arts Council’s actions are the beginning of a necessary correction to hiring practices and wages in the arts. In these times of austerity it is clear that working artists must be protected like any worker in any other sector.
This does perhaps mean that unpaid ‘opportunity’ work is going to diminish. However this will likely result in more paid work for artists that have invested years of their lives. For those of you who look forward to training as artists and performers, this means that your PAID opportunities will grow with time, and by the time you are established in the profession, you will be able to make a modest wage practising your craft, topped up with the occasional film and commercial payment.
We had 12 years more than any other sector without the enforcement of NMW laws. What has this delivered? Hardship for artists and performers in a time of plenty. Now even greater hardship in these tough times. We have suffered from a race to the bottom, and competition based in who-can-afford-to-work-for-free the most, not who delivers the best for the audience.
Those of us who have finished the starving years realise now that we suffered longer than we had to. If the unlawful use of unpaid workers continues to grow entrants to this profession will have no hope of making a living.
We applaud the Arts Council for leading the way in upholding lawful employers and promoting high moral standards in their advertising. We applaud the actors and supporting artists making tribunal claims for unpaid film work. We hope the entrants will reflect on this, and consider that their support of companies that pay will define their future opportunities.
May 12th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
An entertainment union yesterday won another legal case – interns are workers and must be paid. There is no need to work for nothing – ask for wages and you will get them.
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2080