Report

Skills for Immersive Experience Creation

Whichever way you look at it, the immersive economy promises to be big business: Price Waterhouse Cooper predict that £1.39 trillion will be added to the global economy through immersive technologies, whilst IDC forecasts that worldwide spending will reach approx. £130 billion in 2023.

The UK is already assuming a healthy share of this global market (around 9%) with over 1250 specialist immersive companies, and over 500 immersive technology projects identified since 2018 (either ongoing, open or completed) worth £220 million.

Predictions indicate that this market share will rise significantly in the next decade with £62.5 billion added to the UK economy and over 400,000 jobs enhanced by immersive technologies by 2030 The 2019 Immersive Economy in the UK Report confirms that immersive companies are scaling up, and that ‘investors see immersive [in the UK] as a hot sector’, with increasing levels of investment. Over 22% of companies operating in the economy are focused on Media and Arts, making the sub-sector a key player in the 13,000 jobs currently engaged with immersive technologies. The size of this supply market is being met with increasing consumer appetite: IDC estimate that consumer spending on AR/VR/XR is expected to rise by 52.2% in the next five years.

And yet, there is a problem; a clear skills gap has emerged. 97% of companies surveyed for this report indicated skills were missing in this sub-sector.

At a time of unprecedented growth, this report sets out a comprehensive understanding of the skills, the gaps and the ways to address these that are vital to the growth of the immersive experience production sector. The report is the first of its kind in the UK and is for businesses in the creative industries, for investors, educators and policy makers to help make informed decisions about the way the current and future UK workforce are trained and educated.