Arguably, the world’s most exciting creative agency, Wieden+Kennedy, has announced plans to lay off 11 per cent of its global workforce amid the CV-19 downturn.
One of the industry’s most lauded agencies in recent times, Weiden+Kennedy boasts a slew of A-list clients that include Nike, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Airbnb and Ford.
Last month, it was named the North American agency of the decade by Cannes Lions.
Announcing the redundancies, the agency said in a statement: “We negotiated this as long as we could, but W+K and COVID-19 have reached an impasse.
“How long this will last seems to be anybody’s guess, so we have had to make some hard choices. We are saying goodbye to people that we love; 11 per cent of our network.
“Some raised their hands to leave, helping to save the jobs of others. Some received bad news graciously. Voluntary or not, everyone was given the softest landing possible. All of them are a loss to us. Any agency that gets them is lucky,” the statement read.
However, it was less clear who would be moved on and from what part of the world.
Wieden+Kennedy has offices is headquarted in Portland and has an office in New York. It also has operations in the UK, Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, India and China.
The agency has announced affected staff would receive four months of severance pay and it would assist with recruiting and job placement resources and services.
