After two years of large layoffs and the promise of extra consolidation to come back in media and leisure in 2025, the temper is bleak amongst executives of a sure age.

The pink-slip massacre has hit arduous on Gen X veterans within the middle-management ranks of networks, studios, expertise companies and PR companies. And it’s come at a time when the whole trade
is wrestling with the impression of systemic change — goodbye, cable; hey, streaming — and essentially the most disruptive know-how because the creation of speaking photos: generative AI.

Amid all of the tumult, nonetheless, there’s monumental alternative for skilled progress for these with expertise, connections and savvy in how you can apply these abilities in new arenas.

“Individuals are very unnerved about whether or not there could be one other chapter. Individuals get very emotionally locked up once they really feel weak. And but should you don’t really feel weak while you’re rising up within the enterprise, you wouldn’t be capable to obtain what you’ve achieved,” says Wealthy Ross, a former prime government at Disney, Discovery and Nickelodeon.

Furthermore, those that have extremely specialised abilities — analysis, analytics, advertising and marketing, finance — can discover themselves in demand as consultants and contract employees from the identical corporations which have gutted their groups by means of layoffs.

“There’s a lot want as a result of there’s been a lot disruption,” says Liz Huszarik, a 30-year
veteran of Warner Bros. who just lately launched the analysis shingle Maverix Insights & Methods with two fellow WB alums. “They’ve all lower their groups, however they nonetheless have the identical workload. They’ll usher in our firm at a fraction of the fee.”

For a lot of who reached the very best rungs of Hollywood’s greatest corporations, essentially the most humbling factor to simply accept is the lack of the perks that include working for a community or studio.

Ross was pushed out of his position as Discovery’s prime programming government in 2018, in a restructuring that adopted Discovery’s acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. He remembers feeling conspicuous the primary few instances he stood in line to get right into a screening in Los Angeles — after years of being a VIP ushered in to a reserved front-row seat. Experiencing how the opposite half lives was eye-opening and informative.

“At first, it’s jarring,” Ross says. “Nevertheless it additionally jogs my memory why I do what I do. As a result of you have got a possibility to be amongst individuals and have a dialog about ‘What have you ever seen currently?’ and ‘What did you consider it?’”

Huszarik, who ended her tenure at Warner Bros. as government VP overseeing analysis for the studio, emphasizes that launching a enterprise doesn’t occur in a single day. It’s a dedication that takes psychological and monetary preparation. And the blow of shedding your job in a mass layoff takes an emotional toll.

“It took the wind out of my sails after I was proven the door,” Huszarik says. “I liked every thing about working for Warner Bros. and all of the individuals I labored with.”

She thought of in search of one other analysis publish. “However as I considered it I used to be like, ‘Screw it, I’m not going again to company. I’m going to wager on me.’ If I’m going to fret about making price range, I’m going to fret about it for me,” she says. Huszarik additionally based the Former Ladies of Warner networking group that meets quarterly.

Ross now splits his time between houses in Los Angeles and Milan along with his husband, former Disney advertising and marketing government Adam Sanderson. The choice to place down roots in Milan has opened up doorways for Ross, as a producer and as a mentor to executives and creatives on each side of the Atlantic.
“I’m just like the Dora the Explorer of this time of life,” Ross says.

The most important issue that helps executives of a sure age — notably the Gen Xers rounding the nook on their mid-50s and early 60s — is a willingness to embrace vital way of life modifications.

“I’ve seen lots of people who took the method of sitting there ready for one thing to occur. In the event you try this, there is not going to be something,” Ross counsels. “So let’s discuss what choices you have got, whether or not it’s geographically transferring to a brand new place or making an attempt one thing new from a artistic standpoint. Don’t suppose at 60 or 63 you might be completed — until you prefer to play golf each day.”