The Art of Being Laid Off As a 3D Artist
The positive spin on an inevitable part of our world
To be clear…getting laid off sucks.
I was laid off when Disney closed Blue Sky Studios in April of 2021. I was out for a run in Central Park when I received a meeting alert announcing an all-hands meeting where “Critical Business” would be discussed. The meeting lasted 8 minutes. By lunch on that same day, me and 600 of my closest friends would be told we were losing our jobs.
And yes…my avid readers know I recently published an article calling this a great time to become a 3D artist…but layoffs are always possible even in a thriving economy. Just this week, we saw layoffs announced at Aspyr Games in Texas and Unity out in California.
So here are a few things you should know if it happens to you.
While layoffs suck for all involved, the top tier of suckery happens for anyone working on a visa. Not only does your income go out the window but you may not be able to stay in the country. If you have kids in school or just a person who doesn’t want to be bound to the country they were born, this can be devastating. Plus, needing a work sponsor adds an extra hurdle no one wants when applying for jobs on a tight schedule.
For everyone else, it’s the emotional upending, the financial insecurity, and the countless other little ways losing your job hurts. The instability is the hardest thing to wrap your head around as you just try to steady yourself for an unknown future.
So what happens after the announcement? How does this difficult situation end?
Step 1. The Scramble
Let the Hunger Games begin!!!
Or as they call it…the job hunt. You are now pitted against your former co-workers for the current openings in the industry. This is brutal because many of these people will be close friends and you don’t want to compete with them. But it immediately becomes apparent that you can’t discuss the process with them. What if they get an interview at a company you wanted and you don’t? It doesn't feel good. What if you get a job offer at their dream studio while they are passed over? They will be crushed.
So while you all can still come together and grieve the loss of your former company, you can’t really share what you are currently going through with them. And boy…let me tell you…it’s not great.
Endless hours entering your resume information into a company’s online portal even though you just uploaded a well-formatted resume with the EXACT SAME INFORMATION!! Follow that up with awkward interviews and the quiet letdown of being ghosted by a company you weren’t even sure you wanted to work for in the first place.
It’s all the worst parts of dating without any of the fun.
Step 2. The Settling
One by one, people start to find jobs. Their “open for work” badges on LinkedIn quickly turn into “I’m extremely excited to announce that I will start a new journey at …” posts. In fact, something funny will start to happen.
Many of the people you used to work with…especially the “good ones” will embark on jobs with better pay or generally better fits for their skill sets. People with excellent skills who were passed over for promotions will start landing leadership positions at other companies. Faster than you think is possible, nearly everyone will be back to work scattered at jobs in a wide range of industries worldwide.
Step 3. The Reshuffle
Once that settling occurs, a lull will set in for about a year. After that, you begin to notice some reshuffling.
Some will have landed great opportunities within organizations with thriving cultures and they will start looking to recruit their old colleagues. Others will find their new roles aren’t working out. The project sucks. The boss sucks. The pay sucks. They may even be laid off again. But they are more than willing to take these calls and consider other options.
Between year one and year two there is a magnetic pull to the best companies and your former co-workers now have a little colony for ex-pats from your old company.
Step 4. The Rest of it
After that…things quiet down. People have developed their new routines in new places and have their situations sorted. But at this point, you have a few superpowers.
You now have a wide range of contacts at incredible companies in the industry. And these aren’t just acquaintances but co-workers you have a shared traumatic experience that connects you in an unspeakable way. Like old war buddies, you get together to tell tales of past successes and failures that create a camaraderie. This web of comrades forms a super strong bond at almost every company across your industry.
You have the superpower of resiliency. You have seen what happens when someone pulls the rug out from under you and watched yourself bounce back up. It’s no longer an unknown quantity. You know you can handle it and jump back up with grace. You no longer fear losing your job because you have a bit of a roadmap on how to get it back. Yes, it would still suck if it happened again, but you have all the tools and confidence you will need to do it again.
Lastly, you have the superpower of having more clarity on what it means to have a job versus having a career. A career is significant. A career can be aspirational. A career can be structured around a big goal like “I want to help people with spinal injuries walk again” or “I want to cure cancer” or, in many of our cases, “I just want to make as many inspiring images as I can.” You can pour your heart and soul into your career and potentially gain a return on that someday.
Jobs are different. Jobs are short and fickle. Jobs have internal conflicts and politics that distract from your career goals. And while jobs can certainly help up on our path to achieving our goals, they are not the reason why we are here.
So your superpower is that many people often don’t sweat the minor job-related problems after a layoff. You will focus on the big projects or the fantastic people you meet as part of your career. You will learn to see the big picture again and have more clarity.
So yes…I’ll circle back to being laid off sucks and it will probably happen to you at one point in your career, it’s not the end of the world. You will bounce back with more connections at more studios than you ever dreamed and have some newly discovered superpowers.
But that is my experience…if your layoff journey is different than mine, let me know in the comments!
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Michael Tanzillo has been a Senior Artist on animated films at Blue Sky Studios/Disney with credits including three Ice Age movies, two Rios, Peanuts, Ferdinand, Spies in Disguise, and Epic. Currently, Michael is a Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D team at Adobe.
In addition to his work as an artist, Michael is the Co-Author of the book Lighting for Animation: The Visual Art of Storytelling and the Co-Founder of The Academy of Animated Art, an online school that has helped hundreds of artists around the world begin careers in Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Imaging.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
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Such a well written article, and a great read. I love that you put such a positive twist on something that is still definitely an enduring challenge, but being able to see the silver linings is always a great way to re-orient and start the next chapter.