Major ad agencies diverge on return-to-office strategies

The trend: Publicis Groupe has enforced its three-day office requirement since early 2024, including mandatory Mondays and no consecutive remote days, leading to some employee departures for non-compliance.

The policy differs from other holding companies' approaches—many of which display greater flexibility.

• As of April 1, 2024, Omnicom (which recently announced a merger with Interpublic Group) requires employees to come into the office at least three days a week unless they are designated as remote. New hires with less than three years of tenure need to be approved for remote work. The company prioritizes flexibility and balance between office and remote work based on employee feedback from its wellbeing survey.
• As of December 2022, Interpublic Group (IPG) CEO Philippe Krakowsky supported a hybrid model but allowed agencies to set their own policies.
• At WPP Group, CEO Mark Read instructed HQ employees to work in their respective offices at least three days a week in December 2022, though individual agencies within WPP were given autonomy to set their own policies.
• Stagwell has a tiered approach: Executives are expected to work in the office full-time, while corporate employees must come in three days a week. Agencies within Stagwell's network can set their own policies.
• In 2021, Havas—which was recently spun off from Vivendi—implemented a three-day in-office minimum for US employees, but its policy as of 2024 is unclear.

The impact of policies: The implementation of RTO policies has had various effects on the advertising industry.

• A 2023 WordReduce study showed that employees facing RTO mandates are 40% more likely to seek new work compared with those who have more flexible arrangements.
• Strict RTO policies could potentially narrow the talent pool by excluding candidates who seek more flexible working arrangements.
• A reduction in flexibility has been tied to have negative effects on employee wellbeing.
• Constant changes to RTO policies can take a toll on employees, creating burdens for staff and management.

Our take: With the major advertising agencies having varying approaches, there will inevitably be winners and losers—but the data is likely to be messy regardless.

• If one agency succeeds while another fails, it will be difficult to blame RTO or a number of other factors.
• The effect of these policies on employee satisfaction, retention, and overall industry dynamics will continue to be a topic of discussion and concern in the advertising world well into the new year.

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