Layoffs or Firing? That Is The Question.

So far in this “is it or is it not a recession” all I have heard from my advertising agency clients is that they are hiring.

At the same time, we see large companies laying off staff. I went to Ad Age and wondered if they report on company staff layoffs. And guess what… They do.

I’ll put some major reported layoffs below. But first. Are the big agencies hiring?

• Example: WPP, alone has zillions of job openings around the world. Specifics?
• 1694 Media Jobs
• 650 Creative openings
• 717 in Analytics
• 819 in Client Services
• 596 Openings in New York
• 259 in Australia
• 106 in L.A.
• 501 at Ogilvy
• 331 at Wunderman Thompson
• Omnicom has 10 AE openings, 7 production openings, and 19 “creative” jobs.
• Publicis has 1,108 job openings on its LinkedIn jobs page.
• Interpublic has 654.
• There are 17,233 advertising agency jobs available on Indeed.com. 453 in D.C. alone.

I have no historical frame of reference but it looks like advertising agencies are looking for people. Client corporations?

From Ad Age Headlines on Major Client-Side Moves:

• Ford Layoffs 3,000 Employees Globally
• Apple Lays Off Recruiters (rater telling!)
• Warner Bros. Discovery cuts 14% Of HBO and HBO Max
• LinkedIn Lays Off Global Events Marketing team
• Calm Cuts 20% of Staff (I Guess we don’t need as much calm these days)
• HootSuite Lays off 30% of Employees
• Shopify Lays Off 10% Of Workforce
• Huge Lays Off 3% of Staff (An IPG Agency)
• META Cuts Hiring Plans

Big companies are laying off while Big agencies are hiring. Yes, confusing.

I am looking at these numbers because a chapter in my new advertising agency management book (still in the typewriter) will examine all of the latest shifts in the ad biz hiring and talent management space. I’ll cover recruiting, burnout, diversity, and ageism. And, fun new terms like ghost quitting.