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Digital Pulse is a new feature from Chinwag that's designed to provide
a monthly confidence index for the digital industry. Each month the results
will be analysed to create a picture of market conditions, career
satisfaction and opportunities, salary views, and more, all based on
your input.
It only takes a couple of minutes to fill in and we'll donate 25p to charity for each completed survey. Plus, we'll send you the results and invites for further editions.
Two month’s of gains in confidence were wiped out with August’s Digital Pulse index falling 2.33% to 121.5, virtually the same level as May’s result. The index of market conditions in six months time took the biggest hit with a 6.33% drop in the last month with only small drops in confidence around employment. Taking into account that these results pre-date the troubles on Wall Street and in London, and the Digital Pulse index may take somewhat of a battering in September.
The digital sector looks to continue a rebound in confidence with the Digital Pulse rising by 1.14% from June to 124.4. The second month in a row that the index has risen. Across the indices there's a small but sustained increase in confidence both in current market conditions and those in six months' time. In the face of this increased confidence in business, satisfaction with salaries has decreased however by 4.51% from June, perhaps prompted by rising costs.
June’s results showed an
overall increase in market confidence from May, coming in at 123.0 (up 1.4%).
While specific confidence
in current market conditions continued to slide - as did faith in the
economic environment in six months time - the overall index reflecting sentiment
about conditions in the future increased, up to 126.1 (up 4.4% on
May's results show another fall in overall confidence - a drop in the Digital Pulse of 3.87%. However confidence in future conditions, 6 months from now, has fallen less, by only 2.5%.
From the figures, it could be tempting to conclude that feelings within the digital sector are on the slide but the index of future conditions may point to some light at the end of the tunnel. Although it's dropped, the figure is quite low and may indicate a general slowing of business rather than a race towards the edge of a cliff. Let's hope so!
The method for calculating the Digital Pulse has been adjusted to give a more accurate reflection of the industry's confidence, based on feedback from March's results. Using this new algorithm for both March and April's results, confidence dropped 2.5%, with most of the other indices showing small drops in confidence.
The results of the overall index indicate a positive outlook towards the current market position, with good confidence about the current market state and the wide availability of jobs within the market. Looking over the next six months however, this confidence slips 12.1 points (8.3%).
The analysis reveals that while there's been a notable drop in market confidence about the immediate future - most marked in the online publishing and mobile sectors - there is growing confidence about the future role the digital industry can play in a constrained economic environment...
The Digital Pulse for March 2008 is: 122.1
This buoyant view may be a result of companies looking to digital channels and services for efficiencies in operations and marketing to offset tougher trading conditions. This may bode well for the digital industries in the light of constant media stories of impending economic doom...
