Would You Work for a YouTuber?

A career decision many professionals are quietly facing

“I got a job offer from a YouTuber,” he said. “At the same time my company is being acquired. And I don’t know which option is riskier.”

That was the opening line of a conversation I had towards the end of 2025 with a colleague and friend.

This is someone who has spent close to 20 years in our industry. He started as an assistant producer, worked his way up, and is now Director at a major U.S. network with international operations.

On paper, a very safe position.

In reality, not so much.

The company he works for is in the middle of a classic acquisition process that you might have heard about. The kind many of us have lived through at least once. New ownership. New strategy. New org charts. And eventually, fewer roles.

He knows this. But like most people in that situation, he doesn’t know when or how it will hit.

And then the recruiter called.

A role at a production company built around a YouTuber with more than 3 million subscribers.

The offer was serious.

More money.
Comparable benefits.
And even the possibility of ownership in the production company running that channel and a few others.

Still, he was stuck.

“What would you do?” he asked me.
“It feels risky. I’ve been where I am for more than twenty years. And this is… a YouTuber.”

That word carried a lot of weight.

To him, YouTube still felt unstable. Fragile. Not “real” in the way a network is supposed to be real.

But the irony was hard to ignore.

The network he works for is being absorbed by another company.

That’s when I told him something very simple.

“I honestly don’t know what is riskier right now.”

If he leaves and the YouTube company fails, that’s risk.

But if he stays, there’s a very real chance he could be without a job in the next 6 to 12 months anyway. Not because of performance. Not because of lack of talent. But because acquisitions do what acquisitions do.

Yes, he might get a severance package.

But after that, there’s no certainty. No timeline. And no control.

I told him this:

If the offer is solid
If the company is properly structured
If they pay people on time
If they have a track record of treating crews well
If you’ve done real due diligence

Then this might not be reckless.

It might actually be rational.

He paused and then said something that stayed with me.

“I’m very traditional. It still scares me to say I might work for a YouTuber.”

I get that.

Many of us grew up believing that networks were stability and everything else was a gamble.

But the landscape has changed.

Many YouTube-first businesses today are well-funded, professionally run production companies with diversified revenue and long-term plans.

Meanwhile, many traditional organizations are shrinking, merging, and quietly removing layers.

The risk didn’t suddenly appear because of YouTube.

The risk was already there because of the acquisition.

I still don’t know what he decided. Last time we spoke, he was still evaluating his options.

But he told me the conversation gave him clarity.

Standing still didn’t mean being safe.

It just meant letting someone else decide his future.

And that’s the real lesson here.

Business information is not just for executives.

Understanding who owns your company
What stage it’s in
How decisions are made
And what typically happens during transitions

This is something all of us need to stay on top of.

Because just like organizations will make decisions regardless of how long you’ve been there, you also have to make decisions for yourself and your family.

Sometimes the biggest risk isn’t leaving.

Sometimes the biggest risk is staying because it feels familiar.

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