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'PR industry roars back’ – 2021 PRCA UK Census

Francis Ingham headshot

The message from the 2021 PRCA UK Census is simple –the industry has bounced back from its greatest ever challenge.

The numbers here reflect what we have been hearing now for months –teams are growing again. Salaries are rising again. The industry is confident again. And our industry has many reasons for that confidence. The last eighteen months have proved beyond dispute the value that practitioners bring to business, to democracy, to our daily lives. When the need to communicate effectively had never been greater, thousands of communicators around the UK rose to the challenge magnificently, in unthinkable circumstances.

Of course, this is not simply a reset to where we were. Sadly, not everybody who had a job in our industry when Covid struck still does so. The data show the even greater challenge of mental ill health –something which people at every level now feel far more free to discuss. We can also see that working patterns have changed, and most likely changed for good.

When in March 2020, we were all told to go home for two weeks, none of us predicted the change this would bring for how we work today.

The gender pay gap remains –but it’s smaller. Our industry is still whiter than the people it engages with –but less so. And a third of people still work outside of offices hours –but that’s down from nearly a half.

So there are obviously many challenges ahead, but great progress has made. Our industry’s resilience has been verified. Its value has been confirmed. And its future is a rosy one.

Read the full 2021 PRCA UK PR and Communications Census here.