Ad world's creative pool shrinks

India's advertising industry is facing a serious manpower shortage, especially on the creative side of the business. Pressure on agencies' earnings has affected salary hikes, creating an opportunity for the burgeoning entertainment sector (TV and films) to poach on the limited talent pool. The shortage is mostly among the junior and mid-level executives.

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and regional creative director Asia Pacific, McCann-Erickson India, says, "Our industry is people-driven but to meet their expectations of higher salaries is becoming difficult. Yet, we will have to do everything in our capacity to retain them because people are the key to our performance."

Ad industry sources say that a junior copyrighter gets a salary of about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 in the beginning whereas a fresh television script-writer could make anywhere around Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 for writing a single episode, once he/she breaks into the writing circuit.

In advertising, money for creative people does not start flowing in till they are two to three years into the profession