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With all the new technology we have, animation is taking longer to produce for both films and video games. On average, there are about 8,000 openings for special effects artists and animators each year and is expected to increase demand for better visual effects and animation and the creation of new devices and gaming systems. The estimated growth rate is 16%.
According to iAnimate, this year in the US the number of jobs for animation has reached 62,400. More colleges are introducing animation programs for the large number of students wanting to make it big. But studios don't care about people's grades, they're looking at their skill. Only 28% of animation graduates actually become professionals.
In conclusion, the demand is high, but the supply is little.

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Animation has come a long way since the release of the first animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in the 1930's. Before the introduction of AI for animation, animators had to draw frame by frame to create the entire movie, which would take years. An interesting fact about Snow White, there was a 4-minute long scene cut from the movie where the dwarfs sing while making soup. Just that scene took over a year to animate.
With today's technology, we can make higher quality animation in less time because of AI animation generators and AI animation software. We've used this before in films that have CGI characters, such as Lord of the Rings and Avatar. People wear a motion capture suit and act out the scene, allowing the animators to use their movements to build the character around them. This has also been used in fully animated films. A few examples of this are The Polar Express and Rango. The voice actors of the character wear motion capture suits, but more simplified, as the main focus for these films are the facial expressions.
Motion capture isn't the only example though. For the live action remake of the Lion King, Disney used deepfake AI to allow the virtual characters to behave in ways that mimicked real characters.

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For animation, you don't always need a degree in anything, although it certainly helps. If you are working towards a degree you should go for a bachelor's degree in animation, fine art, computer graphics, or a related field. With most careers in art, demonstrating strong portfolio work is just as, or more important than a degree.
Obviously to get a degree you would need to go to a college. Not all college provide degrees in animation, although more programs are showing up around the country. You'll find them more common in art schools, although they tend to be more expensive. On average, for state students, it's about $35,000 for a degree. For out-of-state students, it's about $75,000.

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For animation there are a lot of different paths you can take. The standard one is getting a internship with a company. Most likely you have to be junior or senior in your college or university, or within one year of your graduation.  Because of all the different styles of animation (stop motion, CGI, hand drawn, etc.) there are a lot of different jobs that are related to an animation degree.

Some include:
- Animator
- Storyboard Artist
- Concept Artist
- Game Artist
- Games Developer
- Graphic Designer
- Illustrator
- VFX Artist
- Web Designer

You could work for some of the large commercial studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks, and Nickelodeon. Or you could work in post-production and VFX (visual effects) for companies such as Lucasfilm, Universal, and Marvel. You can also work in the video game industry.
There are a lot of different paths you can take, and to help get the job you want it helps to put yourself out there and make yourself known. That way those higher up will see that you've got potential and opportunities for you will rise.

Median Annual Salary for California:

Entry Level (0-12 Months) - $49,270
Early Career (1-4 Years) - $51,230
Midcareer (5-9 Years) - $63,170
Experienced (10-19 Years) - $67,230+

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Producing animation involves a number of stages including generating ideas, rigging lighting, and building models.

Some tasks include:

- Liaising with clients and developing animation from their concepts
- Creating storyboards that depict the script and narrative
- Drawing in 2D to create sketches, illustrations, or artwork
- Designing models, backgrounds, sets, characters, objects, and the animation environment
- Using a range of materials including modeling clay, plaster, oil paints, watercolors, and acrylics
- Developing the timing and pace of the movements of a character or object during the sequence of images and ensuring they follow the soundtrack and audio requirements
- Using technical software packages such as Flash, Softimage, LightWave, etc.
- Recording dialogue and working with editors to composite the various layers of animation (backgrounds, special effects, characters, and graphics)
- Working to production deadlines and meeting clients' commercial requirements
- Working as part of a broader production team
- Dealing with diverse business cultures, delivering presentations and finding funding

Depends on where you're working but usually you're working about 40 hours a week. Some negatives for being an animator is that animation can be time-consuming and repetitive. It can take days or weeks to animate just a minute of action. You can spend hours staring at a screen assessing motions.

The Animation industry is a competitive area. With so many people working towards the same goal you have to make yourself stand out by putting yourself out there to show your skills and knowledge.