USC School of Cinematic Arts students refresh their LinkedIn and watch the notifications roll in … not for new job postings, but for announcements of mass layoffs.
Paramount Skydance began cutting about 2,000 jobs at the end of October, roughly 10 percent of its workforce, only months after completing its $8 billion merger. On TikTok and X, employees posted goodbye messages. On USC’s campus, students who once saw Paramount as a dream employer were suddenly left with looming uncertainty regarding the post-grad job market.
For Tithi Patel, a junior studying public relations and advertising, her approach has always been to shoot for the stars. As an international student, she flew from Ahmedabad, India, to Los Angeles chasing a career in entertainment PR; a leap that came with a high price tag and higher expectations.
At USC, she watched classmates celebrate internships and industry connections. She’s done everything right: built a portfolio, scheduled endless coffee chats. And yet, with every layoff headline, doubt creeps in.
“I just feel so negative about it. But, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. USC has the most expensive fee, so obviously, you want to get a job. You really want to get into a top company. So I feel like you cannot give up.”
In fact, the numbers surrounding the job market in the entertainment industry are sobering.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the motion picture and sound recording industries dropped 27 percent in Los Angeles County between 2022 and 2024, to about 100,000 workers. This data illustrates how Hollywood has shed around 42,000 film and TV jobs in just two years.
Much of that pain traces back to the pandemic and the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023, which halted production for months and sent crews scrambling for other work. A study released by the Otis College of Art and Design in conjunction with Westwood Economics and Planning Associates found a 17 percent decrease in industry employment after the strikes.
However, for some students beginning their USC degree, optimism still remains.
“We have a lot of guest speakers [at USC] who are very involved in the industry,” says Nayeli Castillo, a first-year themed entertainment major at SCA. “I think that connections, especially starting this early, help a lot.”
Castillo’s classmate, Sammy Hillery, also a first-year themed entertainment major, echoed a similar sentiment.
“I don’t think the industry is done … We have so many opportunities to become part of the industry before we’re sophomores. It’s just insane.”
Both freshmen mentioned the addition of new technology, noting that although artificial intelligence may replace some roles, it will likely create new ones.
“I imagine technology probably does have a role to play,” Castillo said. “Obviously, things are going to change and take some people’s jobs, but I think in the future it’ll probably grow so that new ones will be created to use that technology. But for now, it’s probably going to be a little dip.”
USC SCA refers to itself as “a pipeline training ground to the media industries” with over 17,000 alumni across the world, according to its informational brochures for prospective students. And for decades, that’s been more than just a talking point. SCA is ranked among the top film schools in the world, and USC as a whole sends a sizable portion of its graduates into media and entertainment each year.
USC career outcomes data for the Class of 2024 show that roughly 11.3 percent of the graduating class went on to work in the entertainment industry. The 2024 career data also highlighted that entertainment employers, such as United Talent Agency, Creative Arts Agency and The Walt Disney Company, rank among the top 15 employers for recent USC graduates.
Tithi still worries about the uncertainty in the post-grad job market, but she’s building something even bigger.
When asked where she sees herself in five years, she doesn’t mention Netflix or Disney. Instead, she imagines creating her own space in entertainment PR.
“I hope I have my own [entertainment PR] agency,” she said. “Everything’s constantly changing around me.”
Tithi, along with other USC students, will continue fighting on to earn their ticket to one of LA’s largest industries.