Artist gets laid off (4)
I believe the answer is:
dali
'artist' is the definition.
(Salvador Dali)
'laid off' is the wordplay.
'off' indicates anagramming the letters.
'laid' with letters rearranged gives 'DALI'.
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for dali that I've seen before include "Salvador --, twentieth century Spanish surrealist painter" , "Tree" , "Surrealist Spanish painter, d. 1989" , "Salvador . . . . was great Spanish surrealist painter" , "Controversial painter" .)