By BestMediaInfo Bureau

I had to share this: I recently came across a post by a prominent agency looking to hire an Associate Creative Director (ACD). Nothing surprising there, but one word, innocently placed within brackets next to ACD, raised my eyebrows - "freelancer." I re-read. A large network agency had indeed posted a recruitment request for the job of Associate Creative Director (freelance).

Cannot help but wonder if this individual will lead a motley crew of freelancers or a team of permanent employees. This kind of arrangement reminds me of the emotionally detached cuckoos that lay eggs in the nests of other birds and do not raise their own young. As for those who are devising such hiring strategies, have they gone cuckoo too?

This announcement struck me as both ludicrous and disheartening, a harbinger of the dwindling commitment of agencies once renowned for their innovation and creative prowess.

The bitter irony! The very agencies that once prided themselves on cultivating exceptional talent and nurturing lasting client relationships now resort to tapping into the gig economy, seemingly oblivious to the potential repercussions. As these titans of the industry revel in their quick-fix cost-cutting measures, they appear all too willing to bring under the guillotine, the cornerstones of their success: permanence, stability, and trust.

The quagmire gets murkier when one considers the legal and ethical implications of such a decision taken during a moment of collective short-sightedness.

Then you look back at the decision-makers who make up a large part of today’s ad agencies, and these transformational tactics begin to make sense. They’re the ones who pick up businesses at an irrationally low fee (the undercutting undertakers), global CEOs hired temporarily as serial (job) killers, frigid finance guys, and the dry-as-chalkdust legal departments.

Is this the beginning of the end? If such practices are normalised then the answer, unfortunately, appears to be a resounding yes. The talent conundrum carries an imminent threat of placing the industry at the crossroads of an identity crisis.

Client data privacy, once the bedrock of any respectable agency-client relationship, now teeters precariously on a tightrope.

Read Full Story https://bestmediainfo.com/2023/03/insiders-out-outsiders-in