The PRCA’s PR Census provides a detailed state of public relations as a profession. Brittany Golob analyses the data

Content was crowned king, work cut more and more into one’s time away from the office, women pushed harder against the glass ceiling to little avail and communications organisations sought to enlighten schoolchildren about careers in public relations. Those were just a few of the headlines that highlighted 2013.

The PR Census, carried out jointly by the PRCA – one of the leading PR trade bodies – YouGov and PR Week, with support from Grayling, scrutinises, calculates and analyses these and other trends within the industry. It’s extensive polling of over 1,500 communications professionals allows for a broad perspective on the industry.

“Not only is the PR industry contributing more to the economy, it is earning more, developing wider expertise and feeling much more optimistic than back in 2011,” PRCA director general Francis Ingham says. “We’ve earned that through sheer hard work. If ever there was proof that what we do is valuable, important and a true business imperative – this is it.”

The census dissects every aspect of the industry from how much public relations officers (PROs) earn to how many of them work for British businesses to what their educational background is. The last census of the sort was carried out in 2011. When the data from just two years ago is compared to the recent results, it at times, exposes revolutionary changes within the industry.

Of the many areas covered by the PR Census, digital skills, diversity and gender and educational background are among the most relevant to today’s communicators. These four elements touch upon current trends and issues within PR and point toward a far different industry than exists in 2013 or even that existed in 2011.

It is a general stereotype that the PR professional is a young, white female. Stereotypes are such because they are based in some semblance of fact. The PR Census does indeed point to this group as the biggest demographic in the industry. At least to an extent. Women make up 63% of the industry and 69% of PROs are under 45. White British people comprise 82% of the industry with only 3% coming from black or minority ethnic backgrounds.

“We set up the PRCA’s Diversity Network earlier this year specifically to address this issue. Over the last few months we have led the association to launch its Diversity CMS module and Careers Guide, both aimed at broadening the pool of candidates for PR roles. These added to the PRCA’s PR Apprenticeship Scheme and Intern Programme, which have both provided new routes of access to people who would not normally have been able to get into the profession,” Tanya Joseph, PRCA Diversity Network chairman and Sport England director, business partnerships, says. “These figures make me more determined than ever that there should be real change and the network will focus its attention on ensuring the brightest and the best people are brought into - and remain in - our industry.”


Promoting diversity in PR has, in recent years, become a goal the PRCA, CIPR and others share with such organisations as the Taylor Bennett Foundation – which trains students from BME backgrounds in PR and communications. The PRCA’s Diversity Network and the CIPR’s Diversity Working Group have made strides in informing students from BME backgrounds about working in communications. The recent Careers in Public Relations Guide was aimed directly at doing so.

“Diversity is something that the PRCA works with the Diversity Network to change,” says PRCA’s communications director Matt Cartmell. “But there is still work to do. It’s something that is not going to happen overnight, but it is something that we’re working to tackle.”

Diversity, however, is not the only issue to be addressed by the PR industry. Women, though they make up the largest swath of communicators working in public relations, are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to furthering their careers.

In an agency setting, women are more likely to, according to the survey, occupy roles from account executive to account manager before becoming account directors. Beyond that point, the percentage of women working in the industry severely drops off. Men are by far more likely to hold the post of board director or partner. The effect is mirrored in an in-house setting with the exception of the head of communications role – that is split nearly evenly between men and women.

The culprit responsible for this discrepancy between the genders is likely the mummy gap. It is no surprise that women take time – even years – off work to raise children. In the PR world, which has a fairly well-trod path up the ladder, missing a rung can wreak havoc on a woman’s career.

“It’s a female dominated industry, especially on the consumer side. Every year, a percentage of PR practitioners will go in-house from agencies and a percentage, once in-house, will take time off for maternity leave and will simply not come back if they can’t get flexible working hours,” Amanda Fone, managing partner at f1 recruitment and long-time PR recruitment specialist says. “It’s a big issue, how to keep talented communications professionals (especially women) in the industry. How are we going to do that when we are female dominated?”

Fone points to opportunities like flexible time acting as a way back into the profession for women who leave their jobs for family reasons. She says that this is not unheard of for in-house roles but asserts that agencies should be more accepting when it comes to flexible working. A model could exist in which an agency – working with clients in many time zones – can still provide the same standard of service to its clients based on a candid approach to staffing on that account.

She adds, “We leave roles unfilled with agency clients of ours every month because (of client pressure) they cannot offer more flexible working hours. We have a portfolio of many many talented PR women who have between 10 and 15 years experience (so at SAD to Director level) who would come back to work 2-3 days a week in the office and a day or two from home. They are impossible to help currently and this talent is going to waste. Crazy!”

Yet, as Grayling UK CEO Alison Clarke points out, flexible time is not going to get women into the top roles in agencies or in-house. “Most consultancies who are smart will allow flexible working because they don’t want to lose that talent,” she says. “You can’t do flexi time and run a business but you can do flexi time and make a contribution to an agency.”

The census reflects this. Men will spend 10 or more years in the industry while most women exit the profession after about 10 years.

One of the greatest contributors toward professional development are education, skills training and apprenticeships.

Some enter the public relations industry with a communications-based degree or master’s degree and others take the apprenticeship or internship route. Members of either group are often drawn to further education or skills training to enhance certain skills useful to their careers.

“It’s great to be able to offer a range of options – degrees, apprenticeships or going straight into work and pursuing qualifications once the time is right – it surely has to be good for the profession to provide a number of different entry points,” Ann Pilkington, director of the PR Academy, says.

About 64% of PROs working in house have an undergraduate degree, as do 70% of agency staff. Master’s degrees account for a small portion of PROs. However, 39% of freelancers will have a master’s degree.

The amount of PROs who enter the profession after A-levels or other non-university qualifications is small. The issue, though, is tied to diversity. Trade bodies have been on the forefront of the fight against unpaid internships, and are tipping the scales in their favour. Yet, despite the growing amount of companies paying interns the National Minimum Wage, there is a large number that only offer unpaid internships. Entry into the profession demands, in addition to education or training, practical experience in communications. Getting this experience used to mean, and still does in some cases, spending months at a time working without compensation. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are not financially able to do so. This perpetuates the middle class stereotype – and reality – that dominates communications.

Pilkington says training and apprenticeships are one way to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds into communications roles, “Obviously the higher education sector is changing. It’s now more expensive to study for a degree. More students will look to come straight into work and then take a professional qualification and there’s room for both.”

Skills training, thus, is one of the ways in which those seeking entry into PR or PROs wishing to expand their repertoire can gain experience and knowledge. Accreditation courses and qualifications like those that the PR Academy offers are useful not only to young people, but to all PROs seeking career advancement.

“The PR professional should be able to offer a hell of a lot more than the humble press release,” Clarke says in regards to new responsibilities for PROs, including digital.

One of the most relevant skillsets a communicator must have is the ability to understand digital media.

Over 90% of respondents say digital and online comms have grown in importance since 2011. Blogs and social media are among the most prominent responsibilities a PRO will have in the digital world. However, media relations and reputation management, the perennial purviews of public relations, have moved nearly entirely online. Search engine optimisation also remains important, particularly for agencies.

Customers expect instant communication, digital communications manager for Transport for London Steven Murgatroyd says. Thus, PR professionals must think digital first. “In the next five years, as younger people move up in the industry, CEOs and people on the board of companies will have been using Twitter for the past 10 or 15 years. PR people are going to have a lot of sleepless nights when they get a new CEO who is an avid tweeter and doesn’t see the social media or PR team as experts because they’ve been doing it themselves for years.”

Pilkington says skills training in digital can help practitioners integrate strategy into a company’s social or digital media. “PR is having to shift from thinking of itself as the manager of the message to facilitating conversations with stakeholders and influencing the organisation to listen to stakeholder feedback,” she says. “ It’s not just about ‘How does Twitter work?’ but about ‘How do I integrate social and digital into my communications strategy?’”

The PR Census, while examining these issues, among others, also makes note of the state of the profession. It reflects the huge percentage of agencies working in the technology sector and the minuscule amount of agencies with government or public sector clients. In-house teams handle the responsibility for government PR and third sector communications. However, respondents expect change in these areas. The census points to public sector development and third sector deflation over the next two years.

PROs perceive their industry as somewhat rosy. Over half of in-house PROs and 76% of agency staff think their organisations will grow by 2015. Budgets are expected to grow in both agency and in-house environments – with the exception of the public and third sectors.

Despite this positive outlook, PROs are working more than ever. The average PR professional is contracted at 30-48 hours a week and actually works 47.7 per week. Plus, 41% clock 49-79 hours per week. Email and mobile is partly to blame. In 2011, 35% of PROs worked outside of office hours via mobile or email every day. That number is up to 50%. Happily. 44% of agencies and 55% of in-house teams are accorded working time to volunteer.

Overworked, they may be, but PR professionals are a happy bunch, the PR Census says. They take training seriously and they have seen their responsibilities change vastly since 2011. They are seeking change within their own profession and they expect a great deal of change to occur by the time the 2015 census rolls around. Only time will tell.