Indian animation industry faces severe manpower shortage

Animation industry draws growth roadmap

The animation industry in India, which is estimated to have earned revenues of between $200 million and $300 million last fiscal, is facing a severe shortage of workforce today especially on the quality front.

In fact, the seriousness of this problem can be gauged from the fact that Bangalore-based game development company Dhruva Interactive is now planning to set up a studio in China due to this issue.

"We will be setting up a studio in China in the next 12-18 months as we cannot increase the size of our teams in India," K Rajesh Rao, chief executive officer of Dhruva, says. "We are planning to employ about 150 people in China for the studio," he adds.

"While the animation industry requires about 30,000 people today, there are only about 5,000 people working for the industry," P Jayakumar, chief executive officer, Toonz Animation India Private Ltd, says. "This huge gap between demand and supply needs to be filled," he adds.

"There are not enough animation schools in the country today," P C Vikram, creative director, pre-production, JadooWorks Private Ltd says. "This apart, the people who teach at many animation academies are people who have just passed out of such academies and do not intend to join the industry," he adds. "We need more trainers from the industry itself," Vikram says.

JadooWorks that has 450 people on its rolls at present, has recruited about 80 people from the rural areas. "We have brought artists from Tanjavur, Jalgaon and interiors of Andhra Pradesh and have trained them for this industry," Ashish Kulkarni, chief operating officer of JadooWorks says.

"We have had to spend about six to eight months on training these people," he adds. "However, it has been difficult for us to convince the parents to let their children join the animation industry," Kulkarni says.

"People still feel that medical and engineering are the most secure jobs today. But they do not realise the potential that the animation industry has today," he adds. "This apart, there are less number of girls working in this industry also," Kulkarni says.

With major animation companies contemplating expansion plans, demand for more workforce is likely to be on the cards. While Toonz is planning to increase its present workforce of 450 by about 150 by this month-end, JadooWorks is planning to increase its workforce to around 600 from the present 300 within a year's time.

Dhruva Interactive that has 60 people on its rolls at present, plans to increase this number to 120 by the year-end. Pentamedia Graphics is also planning to double its workforce by March this year. It has about 250 people on its regular rolls and 150 as freelancers, at present.

The question that arises, however, is that will the animation industry be able to meet this demand?