2025 Year-End Insights

The United States Media, Arts, and Entertainment workforce is in a state of continuous, market-driven transformation, characterized by significant job growth in digital and creative fields but high volatility and wage disparity in traditional roles. Employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows robust growth in the overall Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations workforce, which surpassed 2.7 million people in 2023, reflecting a healthy appetite for content and experiences (Data USA, "Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations"). However, the average annual wage for these occupations, while above the national average at approximately $67,975 in 2023, masks a massive earnings gap; professionals in high-concentration, high-wage hubs like New York and California earn significantly more, while many artists, performers, and entry-level workers earn wages far below the median. Furthermore, a substantial percentage of the workforce operates on a freelance or gig basis, contributing to high instability and the necessity for workers to have strong business and self-management skills.

Economically, the industry is driven by content consumption and technological investment, a trend evidenced in data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). Metrics like Gross Private Domestic Investment in Intellectual Property Products for Entertainment, Literary, and Artistic Originals show continued massive corporate spending on creating new media assets, from theatrical movies to streaming content (FRED via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Gross Private Domestic Investment: Fixed Investment: Nonresidential: Intellectual Property Products: Entertainment, literary, and artistic originals"). This investment confirms a long-term economic commitment to content creation, but it disproportionately benefits large studios and technology platforms. Furthermore, the Gross Domestic Product for Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, Museums, and Related Activities remains high, indicating consumer willingness to spend on live events, though this segment often relies heavily on local economic conditions and faces high operating costs .

A dominant source of anxiety and labor dispute in the entertainment sector is the rapidly growing threat and opportunity presented by Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in writing for TV, films, and music. For screenwriters, the concern is two-fold: first, that AI will be used to generate initial script drafts, story outlines, and "idea pitches," thereby eliminating the highly paid, early stages of creative development traditionally done by junior writers and story editors. Second, there is a major concern over intellectual property rights, with writers worried that their past work will be used as uncompensated training data for the very AI systems that are being built to replace them. This anxiety was a central point of negotiation in recent labor actions, with unions successfully establishing initial protections regarding AI's role in the creative process and ensuring human writers remain the ultimate authors (WGA, "2023 MBA Theatrical and Television Negotiating Committee"). Similarly, in the music industry, AI poses a distinct threat by generating new musical compositions, backing tracks, and even "vocal cloning" of existing artists. Musicians and composers fear that AI-generated music will flood the market, devaluing human-created content and complicating royalty payments, particularly for session musicians and soundtrack composers, whose work is highly susceptible to AI substitution.

Worker sentiment shared across social media platforms over the last 45 days is heavily characterized by anxiety regarding job security in the face of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and contract labor instability. Creative professionals, including writers, animators, and editors, frequently express deep concern over AI's potential to automate significant portions of their work, a fear that was a central issue in recent industry labor actions. Discussions also highlight a desire for greater creative control and work-life balance, prompting many to seek entrepreneurial ventures or move away from the high-pressure, long-hour culture of production. For many, the high dedication required for the industry is no longer justifiable when coupled with unpredictable work cycles and high-profile layoffs that have impacted major media organizations.

To successfully explore new opportunities, employees are finding that their combination of high creativity, technical adaptability, and "hustle" is highly valuable when applied to other industries. The most successful strategy is the pivot to Corporate Communications, Content Marketing, or User Experience (UX) Design roles in the technology, finance, or retail sectors. Former producers, writers, and editors are highly successful in Content Marketing and Brand Strategy roles because of their proven ability to tell compelling stories and manage complex content workflows, which they achieve by re framing their creative portfolio as a marketing asset portfolio (TripleTen, "What to Do When a Career in Entertainment Loses Its Shine"). Similarly, designers and animators successfully pivot to UX/UI design by emphasizing their visual communication and audience-centered problem-solving skills, often requiring a short, intensive course or boot camp to formalize their digital design credentials. Crucially, success in these transitions is often contingent upon building a network with professionals outside of the traditional media centers and consciously using business-oriented language to describe their expertise, such as translating "ran the video shoot" to "managed a complex multimedia project budget and execution timeline."

Q4 2025 Insights

The workforce in the Media, Arts, & Entertainment industries presents a paradox of higher-than-average earnings against pervasive job market instability and deep worker anxiety. According to data from the US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), median annual wages for media and communication occupations, arts and design occupations, and entertainment and sports occupations are all notably higher than the median for all US occupations. However, the BLS also projects that employment growth in media, communication, arts, and design occupations will be slower than the average for all occupations over the next decade. The industry's employment growth is primarily driven by the need to replace workers who leave the field, rather than significant expansion. This indicates that while the pay can be good for those who secure roles, the overall number of available jobs is not increasing substantially, pointing to an intensely competitive environment.

Worker sentiments across socials over the last forty-five days reveal a profound sense of crisis and disillusionment, particularly in the film, television, and animation sectors. Workers frequently describe the industry as "dying" or being in a state of continuous "downfall," driven by the bursting of the "streaming bubble". During the streaming wars, production expanded rapidly, creating a temporary boom in jobs, but investors have since pulled back, leading to sharp budget cuts, fewer productions, and mass layoffs. This has resulted in a market where there are significantly more qualified professionals than available jobs, making the process of finding work extremely difficult, even for experienced veterans. The sentiment is that the glamour of the industry is a myth, masking a culture of overwork, exploitation, and abuse, where long hours are normalized and pay is not commensurate with the grueling schedule, effectively amounting to the equivalent of two full-time jobs.

August 2025

Employees within media, arts & entertainment are deeply conflicted. There is a strong sense of pride and satisfaction in the creative and meaningful nature of the work, especially when original and unassisted by AI. However, this is consistently challenged by the chaotic and demanding reality of the job. Professionals on social media frequently discuss burnout and the emotional toll of an always-on work culture. A common theme is the “feast/famine” nature of the work, where professionals either have unreasonable hours on a project for a single organization or are in between gigs, which makes it difficult to maintain stability. While the passion for the work remains strong, many question its long-term sustainability due to the personal sacrifices required. Others are questioning loyalty to single companies and whether their work is simply being studied by LLMs, ultimately leading to their replacement. Hedging risks through the gig economy appears to be what many are doing to avoid the peril of committing to a single company only to be laid off. Tools such as Veo3 by Gemini and other generative AI tools that create media content almost instantaneously are threatening media professionals’ place in their industry, as well as artists and entertainers, alike.

The media and entertainment sector is in a period of intense restructuring and competition. While official job reports show little change in employment numbers over the last 30 days, there have been signs of trouble. Large media companies in the US announced plans to cut hundreds of jobs as part of a restructuring plan. The industry is also facing stiff competition from social media platforms, which are becoming dominant forces in both content and advertising. This is driving a shift away from traditional media roles towards digital and social media-focused positions.