Anyone working in live events, audio-visual or technical production has had some version of the same conversation since the COVID pandemic brought the sector to a near standstill:

Where have all the experienced crew gone?

For many, the disruption was decisive. Some left the industry entirely, redirecting highly transferable skills into new professions. Others made smaller but permanent pivots, into project management, technology roles, logistics, facilities or corporate production environments where hours are more predictable and work is steadier.

Those who remained know the reality all too well. Calls are made later. Favourites lists are exhausted faster. Long-standing colleagues are booked out weeks or months in advance. Gaps are filled with goodwill, favours, and increasingly stretched teams. In the short term, things get done, but often at a cost.

The immediate problem is obvious: there are not enough experienced crew to meet demand.
But the deeper issue is more troubling.

This is not just a short-term labour gap

What we are seeing is not a temporary blip caused by pent-up demand. It is a structural problem that predates COVID and has been accelerated by it.

The events industry has always relied on experience, practical knowledge built over years of shows, venues, festivals, tours and troubleshooting under pressure. That experience cannot be replaced quickly. And yet, the pipeline that once replenished it is no longer functioning as it should.

We are not seeing a meaningful influx of new entrants choosing live events as a long-term career. The reasons are not hard to identify:

• unpredictable hours and schedules

• physically demanding work

• modest and inconsistent pay, particularly at entry and mid-levels

• limited visibility of progression pathways

• little structural support during downturns

For many younger workers, the calculation is simple: the sacrifices are high, the security is low, and alternative sectors offer clearer progression for comparable effort.

Live music and events depend on repeatable people, not just talent

Live music does not happen because artists exist. It happens because crew, technicians, supervisors and production teams are available, week after week, to deliver shows safely and professionally.

When experienced crew are scarce:

• programming becomes harder to sustain

• smaller venues and grassroots promoters are hit first

• cancellations and compromises increase

• safety margins tighten

• knowledge becomes person-dependent rather than systemic

This undermines the very repeatability the sector depends on, particularly at grassroots and mid-scale levels where live music careers are built.

This is not just an Irish problem — but it is Ireland’s problem to solve

Internationally, the same conversation is happening. Markets across Europe, the UK, North America and Australia are grappling with the loss of skilled event workers and the fragility of the talent pipeline.

But Ireland faces particular risks:

• a relatively small labour pool

• heavy reliance on freelance and casual work

• uneven regional demand

• limited formal training-to-work pathways

• and highly variable local delivery conditions

Without targeted intervention, experienced crew shortages will continue to constrain live music and events, regardless of funding, audience appetite or artistic ambition.

The real question: what kind of industry are we building?

The challenge is not simply how to fill tomorrow’s call sheet.

The real question is whether we are willing to treat live events and live music as a viable, respected and sustainable career path — or whether we accept a future of chronic shortages, burnout and stop-start delivery.

That requires collective action:

• clearer pathways from education into paid, supported work

• more predictable programming cycles that allow people to stay in the sector

• consistency in planning and delivery so skills can be reused, not reinvented

• recognition that people are as critical to infrastructure as venues and equipment

Crew shortages are not a niche technical issue. They are a leading indicator of systemic stress.

If we want a thriving live music and events sector, with stages, venues, festivals and regional activity we must rebuild not just audiences and artists, but the experienced people who make it all possible.

Because without them, there is no show.