July Layoffs... Can the Industry Bounce Back?
Agent Trainee at Buchwald and your co-Editor-in-Chief at THA
If you were affected by the major studio layoffs last week, from all of us at THA, we are deeply sorry & here to support you.
According to the U.S. department of labor, with an increasingly high unemployment rate of 4.3%, now’s a bad time to be in any industry, but especially the entertainment industry.
In July alone, 3,500 jobs were lost in movies and sound recording, 5,900 in publishing industries, and 1,600 people were laid off from broadcasters and content providers, and that doesn’t even account for the 55% of entertainment industry workers that are freelance in the United States.
July 2024 layoffs include:
Warner Bros. Discovery laid off nearly 1,000 employees.
CNN laid off 100 staffers in order to focus more on digital subscription and explore AI.
Disney Entertainment Television laid off 140 people. This includes 60 from National Geographic - 13% of their team. Freeform and ABC Owned Television Stations were also heavily impacted.
Redbox laid off its entire workforce of 1,000, many who have not been paid yet, as owner Chicken Soup for the Soul files for bankruptcy and liquidates.
Fox Entertainment laid off 30 people due to restructuring.
Entertainment Tonight laid off approximately 30 people as they shift their focus from written content to video.
BBC laid off hundreds of people as their debt increases and they have to cut costs.
PlayStation laid off 220 people from their video game developer Bungie, cutting 17% of Bungie’s workforce, in order to reduce costs as they restructure.
ITV Studios laid off 15-20 people from their production company Lifted Entertainment in order to cut costs.
Over the past few months there have also been layoffs at Fifth Season, Marvel, Participant Media (which completely shut down), Netflix, Allen Media Group, CAA, Condé Nast, and more.
The LA Times blames after effects from last year’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, panicked restructuring of companies as viewing habits change and they struggle to adapt, and new technologies that make certain workers redundant.
I would argue that we will eventually bounce back from the strikes, companies will learn to adapt to new audience viewing habits (I mean, how many times can you restructure?), and corporations will realize that new technologies like AI aren’t sufficient replacements for human beings.
Now is a difficult time in the entertainment industry, but it won’t last forever. Hang in there.
Comments