Observatory International Curated Newsletter – November 2022
Talent Crisis Eases
Positive sounds are emerging from the advertising industry in relation to the well-publicised talent crisis over the last two years. The suggestion is that the ‘Great Resignation’ of personnel out of the industry has now halted.
Indications are that economic turbulence and a general uncertainty about the future are leading to more caution about changing roles, plus the renewed focus by agencies on employee development, wellbeing and culture has helped to address an imbalance in expectations.
Platform Problems
The opposite is taking place at an increasing number of Big Tech companies and platforms, however, with mass job cuts and redundancies taking place. High-profile examples recently include Meta cutting 11,000 jobs and Twitter forcing a mass round of exits under Elon Musk’s new ownership.
The likes of Amazon, Microsoft, Snap and Cisco have also followed a similar course. Overvaluation of the platforms, along with reports of overinvestment during the covid period, mean that re-structuring has become necessary for many.
These organisations/platforms underpin a lot of marketing activity so it is worth checking what impact their restructuring could have on your own business.
Web3 Stalling
The early promise of Web3’s more balanced, equitable version of the internet has received a number of negative blows recently, as the various technologies continue their push to become more normalised. The stability of cryptocurrencies suffered another serious setback when the FTX exchange crashed, despite its reputation as a safe and reliable place to trade. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, continues to see its value decrease (dropping below $16,000 in November 2022).
An imbalance across Web3 platforms is also emerging. A report by McKinsey highlights the lack of female leadership in metaverse roles, roles which will help to shape and set the standards for what this new version of the internet will become. With such positive work being done within the industry over recent years to remove gender inequality in the real world, it is disappointing to see that these ideals have not yet transferred over into the virtual worlds.
