The advertising group WPP, headquartered in the United Kingdom, will eliminate up to a thousand jobs by the end of the year, the Financial Times reported. Simultaneously, the company is reducing its real estate portfolio, with the planned sale of one of its buildings in London. At the end of June 2026, the group employed 97,388 people, having already reduced its workforce by 1.3% this year. CEO Cindy Rose explained that WPP has identified assets it considers valuable but that do not need to be owned by the company, and is considering the sale of 40% of its stake in Kantar.
The advertising industry as a whole has seen at least 18,000 jobs eliminated at agencies such as Omnicom, Dentsu and WPP in the last 18 months, according to calculations by the British newspaper. Omnicom, following its merger with IPG at the end of last year, announced it would lay off more than 4,000 employees, mainly in administrative roles but also including some leadership positions. In the first six months of 2026, the company recorded $51.1 million in severance and restructuring costs.
Dentsu has completed 88% of the 3,400 job cuts announced in 2025 by June. The Japanese advertising group is also considering cutting up to 160 international units by 2028.
