2023 was a rough year for the animation industry, with studios, streamers, and tech companies of all sizes laying off significant numbers of workers. We remain hopeful for a robust industry turnaround in 2024, but thus far the year has started on a low note with scarce hiring and post-holiday culling at several media companies.
We launched a layoff tracker last year to monitor significant layoffs from across our industry and give workers a big-picture look at the animation, vfx, and gaming employment landscape. Due to the still highly volatile nature of the industry, we’re relaunching the tracker in 2024.
As was the case last year, we are only including layoffs that we’ve been able to reliably confirm and thus the true scope of layoffs in the industry is greater than those listed here. We rely on readers to help with the accuracy of this list, so if you have tips (especially tips with supporting documentation), please let us know.
Also, if you are currently unemployed and looking for work, we suggest following this spreadsheet with a constantly updating list of animation job listings.
2024 Animation, VFX, Video Game Layoff Timeline
January 11 – Pixar: On the same day that the studio’s latest feature, Elemental, received six Annie nominations, it was revealed that Disney-owned Pixar will be laying off a significant number of workers in 2024, but not more than 20% of its 1,300 person staff.
January 8 – Unity: Software developer Unity announced its fourth and largest round of layoffs since July 2022 when it revealed that 1,800 employees , a bit over 25% of its global workforce, would be made redundant.
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