Young people in creative industries

Ragnar Siil

Why there are so many young people in creative industries? Well, firstly I do not think that there are exceptionally many young people in creative industries. There are a lot of older generations as well. It is just that many of the older generations people are involved in areas that might not be so visible. If you look at the crafts sector or the heritage sector or literature or libraries, there are many sectors where probably the young people are not ruling in that sense. But you know when you talk about creative industries you do not talk about those sub-sectors. When you talk about creative industries you look at design. You look at architecture. You look at IT. You look at these young fresh new areas, potentials. And of course there are more young people visible. That is the first thing.
 
Secondly creative industries become more and more international. They are born global. They are born networked already. And young people are more prone to international work. They speak better languages. They are connected better with the social media, with the interpersonal contact, etc. So probably they are better positioned when we talk about export and internationalization of creative industries.
 
Thirdly I think in many countries and also here in Estonia the focus in creative industry development has been starting new businesses. And when we are talking about starting new businesses it is of course easier for the young people, especially for those who just finished universities to start their own companies. It is much more difficult for someone with 20, 30, 40 year of experience to start up a new company.
 
So I think it is not that deliberate strategy. I do not think so. But I think it is to do with visibility that they are just more active and we see them. They are more in sexier sub-sector and everyone wants to showcase them. But I could name in Estonia successful middle-aged professionals from each of those sectors. So I do not think it is so much of the case.

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