What's the outlook for the use of PR services, or even the staffing of PR departments for the coming year?
Several thoughts. A hesitant warning...surely PR will be just as vulnerable if not more so than any other profession. We still have to constantly prove we aren't "fluff". On a positive note, when a business is in trouble, it often needs crisis PR.
When it comes to agencies, the big ones, today's PR Week edition contains a piece on the 2009 economic predictions from PR industry consultants. See the excerpt below. Also, BusinessWeek predicts that layoffs will be across the board, rather than industry focused, as with the .com bust.
Excerpt from PR Week:
"Hiring for communications positions on the agency side is generally flat except for key hires," says Don Spetner, EVP of corporate affairs at Korn/Ferry International. And Karen Bloom, principal at executive search firm Bloom, Gross & Associates, says the PR side of her business is down some because companies are putting off hiring decisions until the new year, when they'll reassess.
One story source said that travel, consumer, b-to-b, retail, financial, and some tech and entertainment industries (and their PR efforts) could face rough times. Yet on the bright side, digital industries may be spared.
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On another note, America' business ethics are in the burning glare of public disgust. PR professionals are constantly faced with ethical dilemmas. A presenter at the upcoming PRSA International Conference in Detroit, Emmanuel Tchividjian, will hold a panel discussion on those challenges. For a preview, listen to his podcast here. Tchividjian is the ethics officer at Ruder Fin and is in charge of the Ruder Finn Ethic Consulting practice.
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