Employment in the motion picture & sound recording industries U.S. 2024, by month

In 2023, the motion picture and sound recording industries in the United States recorded a steady decrease in employment. The number of employees began to drop in the month of May and was expected to reach its lowest point in September 2023 with over 420 thousand jobs in total. As of October 2024, that value recovered to 448 thousand jobs.

The impact of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes

This timeline coincides with the beginning of the strikes led by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on May 2, 2023, followed by The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on July 14. Main points of contention are streaming residuals and lack of regulation around the use of AI. The impact of the strikes has rippled through the entertainment industry and has caused the delays and shutdowns of many productions, such as the upcoming “Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two”, which has been pushed back a year to 2025.

AI: a threat to job security?

The lack of safeguards surrounding the use of AI is a growing concern among many creatives. According to 67 percent of entertainment industry professionals, AI is an issue in the current labor disputes, and even a major one for 34 percent of them. Moreover, a survey led in the United States in 2023 reported that almost 60 percent of respondents agreed that governments should restrict AI’s ability to replace creative jobs. The level of worry about job security was about the same across several media industries, with around half of respondents expressing concern.