The Indian Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry is entering a strong growth phase, backed by rising consumer payments and advertising revenues across all sectors, according to Indian job board TimesJobs.com.

Advertising revenue for the sector is expected to exceed INR 600 billion (USD 9.5 billion) by 2018, according to a survey from the Confederation of Indian Industry and PwC.

This growth trajectory is being mirrored by the rising demand for professionals in this industry and related fields. The past year has been particularly buoyant for the Indian M&E Industry, especially in terms of hiring activity.   

Data from TimesJobs shows that demand for entertainment, media & journalism professionals increased by 9% between May 2014 and May 2015. Demand rose, in particular, for social media managers, media and ad sales managers, production managers, producers, business development professionals, client managers and media marketing professionals. 

Vivek Madhukar, COO of TimesJobs.com, commented: "The rise in talent demand in this industry can be directly attributed to the growth of multimedia consumption in India with the increased penetration of digital media, satellite TV, and the wide scale adoption of smartphones. The prime minister's personal use of social media and the government’s initiatives like Digital India have further enhanced the growth of these sectors.”

“Wider acceptability and use of internet-based apps have also resulted in a rise in demand for social media professionals. Skills and specialisations are highly sought in areas of blogging, project management and writing apart from in-depth knowledge and understanding of social media platforms," he added.

The M&E sector is actively seeking young talent to fuel this growth phase. TimesJobs.com data shows that over 60% of the demand from the sector is for entry and junior-level professionals with up to five years of experience.