PR should keep moving confidently forward

"Job losses on horizon for agencies as markets slide"

That was the gloomy headline on the front cover of today's PR Week, but upon reading the article it comes across as obvious hyperbole.

The first paragraph of the article instantly takes the legs away from the story:

"Job losses are inevitable at PR agencies that focus heavily on IPO and M&A activity if markets continue to stall, according to senior consultants and analysts."

A pretty obvious statement. True, some of the biggest profits for Financial and Corporate PR agencies comes from IPO and M&A activity, but any agency with half a brain will have changed their focus - or at least evened out their practices to other areas of Financial PR - as the credit crunch kicked in.

It's a different matter for in-house professionals though. With plans for major job cuts at Northern Rock and other financial insitutions, it's inevitable that in-house PROs will be laid off. And as one senior PRO said, "Recruitment already appears to be freezing, especially in-house."

But with Lords Bell and Chadlington, who previously said that there was no sign of a downturn in PR, remain steadfastly upbeat. They've been through a recession or two in their time, so surely they know best?

As a result, it's anybody's guess whether the PR industry will join the recession or continue to grow.

This enigma is backed up by the Danny Rogers' leader, which leads with the headline "See the silver lining to some dark skies." Rogers argues that the comms industry is now so broadly based that when certain areas of business suffer, other opportunities present themselves:

"Instead the biggest danger for the industry is a more intangible fear and indecisiveness."

The horizon may look gloomy today and PROs may be denying reality, but Rogers believes that the message must be the same:

"Keep moving confidently forward."

And if anybody can put an optimistic spin on an impeding recession, who better than the PR industry?