Senior TV producers take shelf-stacking jobs as UK industry remains in crisis

Almost a fifth of TV industry freelancers told a charity they were out of work and had worked for fewer than three months out of the last 12. Photograph: Sinenkiy/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Senior television producers with decades of experience are working as high street shelf-stackers, car park attendants and in pubs, as a prolonged crisis continues to sweep through the TV world.

The Guardian has spoken to dozens of experienced figures in the UK who are working entry-level jobs as a result of a drawn-out work drought. Some said they had been forced to sell their houses or spend their life savings. Senior industry figures estimated thousands were affected.