It has been widely reported in marketing and media publications globally that WPP will be cutting hundreds of roles, in line with Elevate28.
The WPP staff cuts are part of CEO Cindy Rose’s Elevate28 strategy
It is estimated that 300 employees will be laid off to get to the £500m in annual savings, the target set for by CEO Cindy Rose, by 2028.
The job cuts are part of the Elevate28 strategy, Rose’s turnaround plan for the global advertising group. The Group has reported client losses – more recently, it lost Adidas to Omnicom -, negative growth and a weak share price.
The strategy also includes merging back office functions and consolidating leadership at global, regional and at market levels.
Once the world’s largest advertising group, it saw full-year 2025 revenue of £13.55bn, down 8.1% on a reported basis and negative 3.6% like-for-like.
WPP’s revenue fell again in the March quarter, “consistent with expectations” and with an “improving trajectory” on track for later in the year.
This follows on the back of WPP’s expansion plans for WPP Enterprise Solutions. The group has been investing in AI as it views this as the future.