Review of the Culture Sector Workforce in Wales

Wavehill, working with Counterculture, are undertaking review of the culture sector workforce in Wales. The primary aim of the review is to provide the client with a comprehensive, cross-sectoral understanding of the current and future workforce and skills landscape within the culture sector in Wales.

1. Introduction

This research aims to develop an understanding of the workforce infrastructure of the Welsh culture sector, with the intention of being able to better shape strategic planning and policy implementation with better data. Workforce data refers to information about the demographics, qualifications, skills, motivation, and experiences of the current culture sector workforce (both paid staff/contractors and volunteers) and the requirements of the businesses and other organisations that employ/engage them.

The most important policy context is the ‘Welsh Government’s Priorities for Culture’ (2025), itself guided by the five sustainable ways of working as set out in the Future Generations Act (long-term, prevention, integration, collaboration, and involvement).

Section 3.5 of Priorities for Culture sets out ambitions relating to the culture sector workforce. This section sets several ambitions related to the workforce:

• That there should be “fair work” and that “the importance of trade unions in the workplace” should be promoted “recognising that they contribute to improving the experience of work, worker voice and representation.”

• That there needs to be “a collective, strategic approach to developing and sustaining freelancers in both the culture and creative sectors”, with particular emphasis on “supporting Wales-based freelancers…, improving skills development and working conditions, and… growing our understanding of the freelance workforce in Wales.”

• That “equality, diversity and inclusion” should be improved “across the workforce at all levels” and that “pay differences in relation to gender, ethnicity and disability” should be addressed.

• According to the ‘Review of the Culture Sector Evidence Base in Wales’ access to cultural opportunities across Wales is uneven with clear geographic disparities and ‘cold spots’ where provision is limited or absent. While lots of this inequality is due to physical cultural infrastructure, it means that there are parts of Wales that are significantly underserved by a cultural workforce which makes it more challenging to improve cultural provision in those places.

1.1. Research objectives

The primary aim of this research is to produce a comprehensive, cross-sectoral understanding of the current and future workforce and skills landscape within the culture sector in Wales. The research aims to identify and address gaps in existing research and data, building an overarching, up to date view of the sector workforce which can inform strategic planning and policy implementation. Key research objectives include:

• Produce a comprehensive, cross-sector profile of the cultural and heritage workforce in Wales covering employees, freelancers, and volunteers.

• Synthesise existing evidence and gather new data to close research gaps and create an up-to-date evidence base.

• Collect and analyse data on employment contract types, including permanent, temporary, freelance, zero-hour, and seasonal roles, to identify trends and inform workforce planning.

• Assess pay levels across cultural bodies and examine disparities related to gender, race, and disability to support fair and equitable compensation practices.

• Map current and emerging skills needs, qualifications, and training pathways across the sector.

• Examine the role, conditions, and support requirements of freelance and portfolio workers.

• Profile the volunteer workforce, including demographics, motivations, recruitment, training, and recognition.

• Assess diversity across all levels of the cultural workforce, with a particular focus on race, disability and sexual orientation - from entry-level roles to leadership and decision-making positions - including volunteers.

• Highlight key findings and reflect the lived experiences of the workforce, capturing both successes and challenges encountered, through illustrative examples that bring the data and insights to life.

• Identify future workforce demands and provide strategic recommendations for a long-term action plan.

2. Research Protocol

The approach to identifying relevant research publications and data on the culture sector workforce in Wales will be guided by the following approach.

2.1. Research questions

This research is guided by the following key research questions:

• What is the current composition of the culture sector workforce in Wales?

• What are the levels of workforce turnover and retention in the culture sector in Wales?

• What is the likely composition of the future culture sector workforce in Wales based on existing workforce trends?

• What is the skills landscape within the culture sector in Wales?

• What are the skills shortages within the culture sector in Wales?

• What is the current level of investment in training and workforce development within the culture sector in Wales?

• What gaps exist in the workforce and skills data within the culture sector in Wales?

• What is the role and distribution of volunteers within the culture sector in Wales?

• What is the role and distribution of freelancers within the culture sector in Wales?

The research will also provide an assessment of the extent to which the above research questions can be answered within the parameters of the contract (time and resources available).

2.2. Key definitions

To guide the research it is important to establish and agree key definitions that will inform what data and evidence is included. This will help to ensure that the research retains focus and avoids the research team being overwhelmed with data and evidence that is not within scope. The following table articulates the key research terms and definitions adopted by the research team.

Term	Definition
Culture Sector	Reference to the culture sector workforce in for this research includes public libraries, archives, conservationists, museums (National and non-national museums taking part on the Museum Accreditation Scheme) and the historic environment sector. The historic environment sector is considered as Cadw and Heneb. In relation to the arts, Creative Wales (film and television, animation, gaming, publishing and developing grass roots music) is outside of scope of this contract.
Education and Training providers	This includes Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) providers, training centres, apprenticeship providers and CPD coordinators offering culture-sector relevant programmes.
Freelancer	A freelancer is a self-employed individual who offers services to multiple clients, working on a project or contract basis rather than being committed to a single employer long-term.
Less-visible roles	For the purpose of this research, less-visible roles refers to jobs, positions, or functions within the culture sector that are essential to the ecosystem but often overlooked, under-recognised, or not publicly acknowledged. These roles typically operate behind the scenes, are informal, or lack institutional support, and can be found across all areas of cultural production, participation, and preservation. Examples of Less-Visible Roles in culture include: Backstage or technical staff in theatres, museums, and galleries (e.g. lighting technicians, exhibition installers, conservators). Community-based facilitators delivering arts or heritage work in non-mainstream spaces (e.g. youth centres, care homes, refugee centres). Freelance or gig workers who may not be part of networks or unions (e.g. workshop leaders, cultural translators, oral historians). Administrative and support staff in small or grassroots organisations (e.g. project coordinators, evaluators, fundraisers). Volunteers whose labour supports cultural participation but isn’t formally acknowledged in workforce data. Cultural practitioners in informal settings (e.g. faith-based, diasporic, or neurodivergent-led creative spaces). Digital and hybrid practitioners whose work is distributed online or across disciplines but not easily categorised in traditional frameworks.
National Cultural Bodies	For the purpose of this research, National Cultural Bodies include: Arts Council of Wales Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales National Library of Wales Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Celf Cadw National Botanic Garden of Wales
Sector Support and Professional Accreditation Bodies	For the purpose of this research, sector support and professional accreditation bodies include: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Archives and Records Council Wales Institute of Conversation (ICON) Creative & Cultural Skills Museums Association Creative Wales Association of Independent Museums (AIM) Group for Education in Museums (GEM)
Workforce	This includes paid employees as well as third sector and volunteer workers who contribute to the delivery, support, and sustainability of cultural and heritage activity in Wales. The research also includes freelancer / portfolio workers who work independently on multiple projects or contracts, often across different organisations, rather than in a single salaried role.

2.3. Inclusion and exclusion criteria

An inclusion framework will be applied to all data and evidence sources identified through the search strategy. Each source will be screened and catalogued consistently using a structured evidence log, with inclusion decisions recorded against the criteria set out below.

Inclusion

• The review will prioritise research and data published after 2022 This date has been selected to cover the period after the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier evidence (pre-2022) may be retained where it:

o   provides important contextual or baseline information; or

o   remains methodologically or conceptually relevant despite its age.

• Research and publications that include a clear methodology on how the workforce data has been captured.

• Research and data relating to public libraries, archives, conservationists, museums taking part in the Accreditation Scheme and the historic environment sector.  

• In terms of geographic focus, priority will be on Wales-specific evidence. However, evidence from the wider UK or international contexts will be included to provide comparative insight or identify transferable examples of workforce development for the culture sector.

Exclusion 

• Research and data published before 2022 except where they provide important contextual or baseline information or remains methodologically or conceptually relevant.

• Research and publications with unclear provenance, weak methodology, or limited relevance will be excluded unless they provide unique or otherwise unavailable insight.

• Sector commentary not based on empirical evidence.

• Research and data relating to Creative Wales (film and television, animation, gaming, publishing and developing grass roots music).

• Initial screening and application of the inclusion framework will be undertaken by the research team. The resulting long list of included sources and the overall balance of evidence will be reviewed by Welsh Government. 

2.4. Search strategy

The review will adopt a structured snowball-sampling approach, informed by the research team’s existing familiarity with key authors, institutions, and publications in the fields of the culture sector workforce.

In practice, this will involve:

• identifying a core set of highly relevant publications, data sets and authors;

• following bibliographic references and citations within those sources to identify further relevant material; and

• incorporating insights and suggested sources identified through scoping interviews and engagement of National Cultural Bodies.

Search strategy

To ensure breadth and completeness, the snowball sampling approach will be supplemented by targeted searches using academic databases, research portals, journals and search engines. It is envisaged that this may include:

• Campaign for the Arts

• Cultural Trends

• Curator: The Museum journal

• Elsevier

• Google Scholar

• Information Professional

• Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society

• Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

• Museum and Society

• Museums journal

• Oxford University Press

• ResearchGate

• SAGE journals

• ScienceDirect

• Taylor & Francis Online

• Wiley Online Library

Call for evidence

Information on the parameters of the research will be included on a dedicated web page on Wavehill’s website. Introductory text and a link to the dedicated web page will be disseminated to a wide range of organisations.

The research team will seek support from National Cultural Bodies and Sector Support and Professional Accreditation Bodies to cascade information about the research to their respective networks.

The use of a ‘call for evidence’ is particularly valuable in identifying grey literature that is difficult to trace via conventional routes such as published journals either because it has not been published commercially or is not widely accessible. Generating a ‘call for evidence’ across a range of organisations will enable the research to draw on original and relatively recent reports relating to the culture workforce in Wales.

The call for evidence can be found on our LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7483551197681938432

If you have any questions, please contact either Andy Parkinson andy.parkinson@wavehill.com or Nikki Vousden nikki.vousden@wavehill.com