The recent Esports Job Report published by Hitmarker, analyses the data from jobs posted on the platform between January 2018 and December 2019. The key take-out for us was the big rise in the number of senior-level esports roles being advertised (up 194% from 2018-2019), with intermediate-level roles also showing a strong increase (up 83%). This trajectory is set to continue with projections showing senior roles asking for 5 or more years of experience will continue to be the fastest growing level of job available in the esports sector. Given the relative youth of the industry, this will present some serious challenges for employers who will need to think carefully as to how they attract the best talent from a limited pool of experienced people. Our work within esports has certainly found this to be true, and we always advise clients to be open to broad search parameters to attract mature skills not just from within the esport sector.
We discussed this topic at the recent iSportconnect Esports Masterclass, when Dominic interviewed Andy Cooke, General Counsel at Fnatic. Andy is a great example of someone with senior level expertise who has successfully made the transition from a major entertainment events business to one of the biggest, private equity backed, esports team set ups at Fnatic.
Andy explained how he sees the sector maturing and how esports business decisions are now being made at the top level. Having operated at senior levels in established entertainment businesses, he can see how these skills can be transferred to give competitive advantage to growing esports companies. Also, as more investment comes into the space, leadership teams are adapting to position new leadership roles which can attract mature expertise from synergistic businesses to reinforce and further the esports industry to bring it to the forefront of the entertainment sector.
Our opinion is senior roles in esports will continue to be drawn from a wider entertainment background and those future business leaders will have a track record in either commercial/legal or accountancy/finance disciplines.
All GC and CFO please form an orderly Q.
Picture courtesy of iSportconnect
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