Hawaiʻi Creative Industries Workforce Analysis
November 2023
Created by: SMS Research, Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi
This report provides an analysis of Hawaiʻi’s creative industries, focusing on workforce trends, job growth, and emerging opportunities across various subsectors such as film, television, digital media, visual arts, and architecture. It is intended for policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and workforce development organizations. By examining labor market data and stakeholder input, the report highlights the critical role creative industries play in Hawaiʻi's economy and the need for aligning education and training programs with the demands of this dynamic sector. The report offers insights and recommendations to support workforce growth and ensure a resilient creative economy.
KEY INSIGHTS
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High Job Growth Potential in Emerging Sub-Sectors:
Film, Television, and Esports: Substantial job growth has been seen in Hawaiʻi's film, television, and video production sector, with a job increase of 37.3% over the last decade. Additionally, the emerging field of Esports and game development offers unique opportunities, especially given Hawaiʻi's strategic geographic location as a bridge between Asia and the continental U.S.. Investing in these sectors can stimulate further growth and provide Hawaiʻi with a competitive advantage in the global market.
Diverse Career Paths Across Sub-Sectors:
Marketing, Digital Media, and Architecture: The creative industry offers diverse career paths in marketing, communications, digital media, and architecture, among others. High-demand occupations, such as software developers, market research analysts, and public relations specialists, provide well-paying jobs, with median salaries exceeding $60,000. With projected job growth of over 25% for software developers and multimedia artists, workforce development efforts can capitalize on these growing fields.
Cross-Sectoral Collaboration:
Education and Workforce Alignment: The report emphasizes the need for stronger alignment and collaboration between education, industry professionals, and government entities to build a sustainable creative workforce. Creating partnerships between secondary and postsecondary institutions, industry, and local government could ensure that creative industry jobs continue to contribute significantly to Hawaiʻi's economy.
Leveraging Hawaiʻi’s Unique Cultural Assets:
Cultural-Based Content Creation: Hawaiʻi’s cultural diversity and natural environment offer a competitive edge in creative industries, particularly in content creation for film, media, and visual arts. Investments in local talent and training programs that leverage these unique cultural assets can position Hawaiʻi as a hub for culturally rich, globally appealing creative products.
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Challenges include insufficient career awareness among local students, a lack of industry expertise in Career & Technical Education (CTE), and limited local training availability for specialized roles (e.g., camera operators). Addressing these gaps through workforce development initiatives and partnerships between the Department of Education and industry professionals can strengthen the talent pipeline.
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Entrepreneurship is vital for growth in the creative industries. However, many local creatives struggle with starting their own businesses due to a lack of business support (e.g., accounting or legal services) and manufacturing facilities). Expanding resources for entrepreneurs in the creative sector could stimulate business growth and innovation.
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Top creative occupations in Hawaiʻi, including software developers, quality assurance analysts, market research analysts, actors, and public relations specialists. These roles offer high growth potential, making them attractive targets for workforce development initiatives.
