Advertising Age reported on more layoffs and lunacy at R/GA, where approximately 15% of the US staff was let go—with approximately being a loose term, given that multiple current and former employees insisted the true figure was as high as 20% (which R/GA reportedly denied).
Despite the fuzzy facts, the story presented a few gems that deserve color commentary.
According to Ad Age, “One person who was laid off said it seemed like any role that wasn’t deemed a ‘business necessity’ was cut.” So, would that include strippers—or are such roles deemed necessities?
Not surprisingly, a DE&I director was dumped, which corroborates the claim that “any role that wasn’t deemed a ‘business necessity’ was cut.” Hey, R/GA once declared the company would be “throwing out the traditional playbook” for DE&I—hence, throwing out a DE&I director technically achieves that goal.
Last year, R/GA closed office spaces and hyped its “Distributed Creativity” model. Employees apparently were not warned that they might be creatively distributed—and dismissed—at the company’s whim.
The remote work setup also meant that pink slips were creatively distributed via Zoom. Such an appropriate tactic for a digital firm. The traditional cardboard moving boxes will undoubtedly be mailed to employees’ residences to pack up and return the company’s equipment.
Can’t help but wonder if the AI explosion adversely affects R/GA. That is, are more advertisers replacing digital vendors with robotic resources? Maybe they should change the masthead to R/GAI and see if it draws interest.
An R/GA spokeswoman claimed the company is helping ex-staffers find new gigs by writing recommendations and tapping former employees for recruitment opportunities. The mouthpiece said, “The community and the alum network is as strong as ever.” Well, the network of not-working R/GA drones is growing…
R/GA Lays Off Approximately 15% Of US Staff
Shop claims under 100 employees were affected
By Brian Bonilla
R/GA had another significant round of layoffs this week, with an estimated 15% of U.S. employees affected. The agency declined to confirm a specific number, only saying that fewer than 100 employees were affected.
But multiple current and former employees told Ad Age that the percentage might be as high as 20%, affecting as many as 120 people.
R/GA strongly denied that number and declined to comment on a specific percentage.
The layoffs were across the entire U.S. and not specific to one department, according to a R/GA spokeswoman.
One person who was laid off said it seemed like any role that wasn’t deemed a “business necessity” was cut.
The layoffs follow an earlier round of cuts in November 2022 and multiple executive departures including CEO Sean Lyons, who is set to join Accenture Song in May. November's layoffs, which R/GA claimed affected 60 employees, followed a 5% cut of its New York staff in June.
Many R/GA employees who were let go flooded LinkedIn this week to outline their situation and offer support for others affected. One business area affected was R/GA’s editorial platform Future/Vision, which focuses on thought leadership and was relaunched in June 2022.
“I’ve unfortunately been affected by this week’s layoffs at R/GA,” Victoria Stapley-Brown, a co-editor of FutureVision, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “There was so much more I was hoping to do with FutureVision going forward, but I’m really proud of what my incredible editorial partner Erik Oster and I achieved while relaunching the platform and creating a new content strategy.”
Despite the layoffs, a R/GA spokeswoman said that FutureVision is “definitely not going away.”
Daniela Herrera, R/GA director of recruitment operations and diversity, equity, and inclusion, also posted about her situation.
“I need to find a new job in the next 60 days or I’ll have to leave the country,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “Unfortunately, my time with R/GA is ending really soon. As y’all know, I’m on a work visa, which means that I need to secure my next freelance or full-time role ASAP or pack my little family up and go back to Argentina.”
Augustus Cook, an executive creative director for R/GA’s brand design and consulting practice, was one of the several current employees that posted support for those affected.
“Truly brilliant and talented people were impacted as part of layoffs across R/GA today,” Cook wrote. “If you are a recruiter or looking to hire yourself, there are incredible producers, strategists, designers, writers, and creatives who you will definitely want to meet.”
“My heart is heavy with the news of the layoffs at R/GA. It’s difficult to put into words the range of emotions I’m feeling right now,” Aaron Green a director, media and connections posted. “So many incredible individuals—talented, smart, collaborative, innovative, kind, lovely, generous, inspiring, and downright good people—have been impacted in every discipline and at every level.”
One person who was let go said they were told in a meeting on Monday that their team would be undergoing layoffs, and then received an invite for an individual Zoom meeting the next day during which they were informed by HR that they were laid off, effective the same day.
A spokeswoman for the agency said that R/GA is working to help people find jobs by writing recommendations and many former R/GAers are offering work.
“The community and the alum network is as strong as ever,” the spokeswoman said.
Contributing: Lindsay Rittenhouse
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