NEW YORK: Weber Shandwick has laid off about 20 people across its New York and Chicago offices as part of a recent “strategic assessment,” PRWeek has learned.
“We routinely assess talent needs as we continue to transform for the future. We recently concluded a strategic assessment and implemented organizational changes that impacted a limited number of roles,” a Weber Shandwick spokesperson said in a statement to PRWeek. “These decisions are difficult and taken with care. We wish our departing colleagues well and appreciate their contributions.”
The agency did not confirm which roles or departments in particular were affected.
As of 2022, Weber Shandwick had roughly 3,125 staffers in the U.S., according to PRWeek’s 2023 Agency Business Report.
Earlier this month, Weber Shandwick appointed Tina Cervera as its New York chief creative officer.
Weber Shandwick last underwent layoffs in February of 2023, eliminating the roles of just fewer than two dozen employees at EVP, SVP and VP levels.
The Interpublic Group firm’s latest reduction follows a series of layoffs, predominantly across the media industry. On the agency side, Ketchum let go of “more than 20” employees in November; and BCW laid off 21 North America employees the same month.
The Weber Shandwick Collective, which includes Weber Shandwick and agencies such as United Minds and Powell Tate, reported a revenue increase of 5% to $915 million globally and $546 in the U.S. in 2022, according to PRWeek’s 2023 Agency Business Report.
IPG’s Specialized Communications and Experiential Solutions segment, which houses TWSC in addition to firms such as Golin and Current Global, registered mid-single-digit growth on an organic basis in Q4 and for 2023.
This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.
