Developers, Designers and Marketers are Ready for Work
This is a challenging time for the media & marketing industry no doubt. It will put some out of business and create opportunities for others. Hourly rates have gone down and engineers, developers, designers, producers and marketers have all been shaken to the core.
After all, marketing is usually the first to go on the chopping block for businesses. Even so, there has also been a renewed interest in marketing and advertising for business that are looking for new & better ways to reach out to customers.
From a budgetary perspective many companies are faced with, ‘do I outsource to India (or somewhere else) or hire someone local?’. This is a very important question. The way I look at it is this, not only does our industry constantly have to deal with the inherent deflationary pressures of the Internet, we’ve had to deal with a very nasty economy as well. This has been very effective at deflating egos – just as it has deflated certain sectors of the economy. I see this as a good thing.
For those of you who understand what I’m talking about, this was (and will continue to be) an opportunity for all of use to light a fire and go beyond our comfort zone. If you fit into this category – or a person that is working harder than you ever have and have left your ego at the door – then you will know that as an industry we’ve done the following:
Through this process, we’re bettering the design, development and marketing industry as a whole. We’re allowing smaller businesses to get a leg up on their competitors. We’re understanding that we ‘can’ finish that project under that timeline and within budget. The players just have to work a little harder, smarter and faster.
And for all those remote development teams – especially the ones that triple their hours to make up for their hourly rate – let this be a warning. A fire has been lit in the US.
We’re ready to work again
And this means that we will be turning more towards our humbled engineers, designers and developers who have realized that it is more important to have a steady job – than drive a cool car or buy a house that we can’t afford.
Just as much as this recession has decimated many industries, for those that survive it and are able to hold on, there will be plenty of opportunity.
We must also be careful that during this time we don’t sacrifice our standards or do ridiculous amounts of work for very little. We still have to be selective with our clients and projects. And we must continue to evolve.
That’s about it. For all of those passionate people in this industry who love what you do, keep up the fight, leave the ego at the door, work for reasonable rates and make things happen.
