Advertising Age reported on The Associates—a program at
R/GA that invites former employees and
freelancers to work at the White digital agency for an annual minimum of 20
weeks. Whoop dee damn doo.
For
starters, there doesn’t appear to be anything new here—the initiative feels
like an IRS-friendly permalancer scheme. It’s no secret that White digital agencies
operate with a different staffing structure than White advertising agencies.
That is, White advertising agencies employ the minimum number of bodies,
bringing in freelance help when necessary. In contrast, White digital agencies
employ fewer than the minimum number of bodies—these firms have
freelance support at their beck and call 24/7. The simple reality is White
digital agencies are project-based enterprises—where workloads wildly fluctuate
with no rhyme or reason—making it nearly impossible to maintain consistent,
regular employees.
Secondly,
given the recent mass layoffs at R/GA, the place has effectively
created a vast pool of available talent. Hell, they might as well take
advantage of the former workers—probably doling out lower rates in comparison
to previous salaries—while hyping the maneuver as an innovation.
Finally, The
Associates further diminishes the opportunity for authentic diversity in
Adland. Drawing from an exclusive network of familiar faces prevents progress
by shutting out newcomers, ultimately demonstrating corporate cronyism.
R/GA once declared they were “throwing out the traditional
playbook for [DEI]”—yet it appears they’ve officially resumed utilizing the
traditional playbook for systemic racism.
In closing,
it’s worth noting that Ad Age illustrated the story with a royalty-free stock
photograph (depicted above), underscoring how employees have become generic,
interchangeable drones.
R/GA
Launches Fractional Work Program For Agency Alumni
The Associates
program promises a minimum of 20 weeks a year of work to former R/GA employees
and freelancers
By Aleda Stam
R/GA is launching The Associates, a program
for the agency’s alumni that invites them to work at the agency for a minimum
of 20 weeks a year.
The Associates program is a type of fractional hiring, in which an employee is hired for a period of time, but
without the constraints of project-based work, like freelance, or the permanence
of part-time work.
The program was created in response to the
rise in project-based client requests as a way to better manage skills,
financial impact and headcount, according to Tiffany Rolfe, R/GA’s global chief
creative officer. She also cited the rise in flexible work culture as people
adopt—or are forced to adopt—freelance lifestyles.
“There was a need for a model for a workforce
that gives more flexibility to employees, that also gives flexibility to our
clients, so we can adapt to the changing needs that they have,” Rolfe said.
The Associates debuts months after R/GA laid off an estimated 15% to 20% of its U.S.
employees. This was at least the sixth round of layoffs in the last three years for the Interpublic Group of
Cos. shop. Last week, IPG announced that the holding company’s total headcount decreased by
1.2% through the first half of the year.
The program’s name came from the agency’s
name—the A in R/GA stands for associates. (The R and G come from the names of
brothers Richard and Robert Greenberg, who founded R/Greenberg Associates.)
‘Clients want consistency
on their business’
R/GA said that through the program it will
gain access to a diverse talent pool across disciplines that is familiar with
the agency and its clients without having to worry about the expense or hassle
of onboarding full-time employees.
“There’s challenges with onboarding employees
into new projects, which might take a little while to get them accustomed to
it, and clients want consistency on their business,” Rolfe said. “But it gives
stability to employees.”
Employees in the program will have access to
the agency’s office space, hardware such as computers, and the same software
technology as full-time employees. Rolfe also touts the program as a way to
offer access to workplace culture, agency events and learning and development
opportunities.
Associates are eligible for the same type of
benefits as full-time employees including health, dental, vision, supplemental
life, short-term disability, long-term disability and retirement savings,
according to the agency.
Similar to freelance employees, Associates
will sign NDAs and have non-compete clauses in their contracts for certain R/GA
clients, and they can float among different accounts.
Associates are paid based on the work they do
(hourly or weekly, part-time) and at the end of year are compensated for any
unused time. Specific salaries were not disclosed.
The Associates initially launched in June and
now has 10 people participants. The agency is opening several more roles in the
coming months, and Rolfe expects Associates to grow further into 2024 as client
needs dictate.
While The Associates is an R/GA-only pilot
program at the moment, Rolfe sees applications for parent Interpublic Group of
Cos. and the industry at large in the future as client needs change.
“We don't think this is something that should
just be an R/GA thing,” she said. “We actually think this is an approach that the
whole industry needs.”
Fractional is the new
freelance
These fractional employment terms are just
another way for a company to say freelancer, and might not be beneficial to
employee or employer in the long term, according to Sasha Martens, president of
industry recruiting firm Sasha the Mensch Inc.
“In the U.S., sometimes we lay people off and
ultimately that’s a short-term decision that’s not beneficial for the company
or the person because a lot of institutional knowledge gets lost having to
rehire and retrain somebody else,” Martens said.
Martens cites Germany’s Kurzarbeit policy as a more beneficial tact to take. The policy, which
Germany implemented during the 2008 financial crisis and the early stages of
the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, is a social insurance program that has employers
reduce their employees’ working hours instead of laying them off. The policy
was one of the main reasons Germany was the only G7 economy to avoid a rise in
joblessness in 2009.
Martens believes policies that favor fractional
employees could “open the door” for having fewer full-time employees. “There does
seem to be a driving interest to lower full-time headcount in most corporations
to offer fewer benefits,” he said.
