INDUSTRY News
Signal Shift launches for new entrants
n 2.4m people employed actoss the UK creative industries – 7.1% of the national workforce n 57% of creative employers recruited under-25s in the last 203 years versus 64% across all UK sectors n £28.8k is the average UK graduate starting salary in 2025
Signal Shift is a new initiative aiming to reach early career media professionals and is a magazine catering for ‘the next generation of media makers’. Founded by editor Ruby Stoneham, publisher Sofia Robinson and sales executive Rose Warren, they have ambitious plans, recognising that our sector skews toward senior leadership and legacy commentary, not the freelance, hybrid and first-job realities that most under-30s actually experience, often to their detriment. “We started Signal Shift when we realised that getting your foot in the door seems almost impossible as a young person, and the vicious cycle of ‘not being able to get experience without experience’ seems bigger and scarier than ever,” Ruby Stoneham told Broadband Journal, adding Signal Shift is “a resource for people who want to break through the entry barrier, and to unpack industry knowledge, advice, initiatives and trends in an accessible (and non–condescending) way.” “Young people consistently report low visibility of realistic pathways into media careers — and junior pipelines are shrinking as entry-level roles are cut or offshored,” Rose Warren said. “The result? A talented, underserved generation who don’t recognise themselves in any of the editorial they see around them. We want that to change.” It is certainly true that the broadband/telecoms and media tech industries are not a young industry, an issue that will become not just pressing but urgent over the coming decade as another generation retires and there are just not enough young people coming up to replace an aging workforce. AI is all very well but it’s not the answer, and as David Whitehead tells us later in this issue, “it merely throws more horsepower at a problem.” It doesn’t replace people, nor should it. The SCTE is addressing the skills gap in a variety of ways – working with RISE, with FE colleges and universities and other industry bodies; we are proud to support Signal Shift as they address a very real problem and one we should all be doing our bit to solve.
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www.signalshift.online
Volume 48 No.23 SEPTEMBER 2026
43
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