Exclusive: WPP ad agencies Ogilvy and Grey have not yet introduced four-day office policy
Two of WPP’s flagship advertising agencies have not been able to introduce their holding company’s contested return-to-office mandate because they do not have enough desks to accommodate the influx of staff.
City AM has learned that Ogilvy and Grey’s London offices have not yet implemented WPP’s demand for staff to work four days a week in the office, because neither has been able to rearrange their offices before the policy was meant to come into force on 1 April.
WPP’s chief executive Mark Read had instructed his firm’s 111,000 staff worldwide to work from the office at least four days a week as of the start of this month.
In a company-wide memo in January, he argued that the ad group’s agencies “did the best work when they were together in person”. And in the accompanying FAQs, staff were told that non-compliance would result in disciplinary measures “up to and including termination of contract”.
The directive sparked uproar among a large section of the holding company’s staff. A public petition calling for the policy to be revoked amassed 20,000 signatures in just a few weeks, with signatories worried about the inclusivity implications and its ramifications for agencies’ ability to attract talent.
Now it has emerged that the UK branches of Ogilvy and Grey—WPP’s two most-celebrated advertising agencies—have been told that the policy will not yet be fully implemented because office reorganisations have not been completed in time.
“It’s not come into play for us because there’s not enough space in the office,” one ad exec said. “It’s still being worked out.”
One reason for the delay given by staff was that the agencies, which are located on different WPP campuses in central London, are obliged to use one of the very few office interior suppliers approved by WPP headquarters.
Staff working from sofas
Two Grey staff members, who asked not to be named, said they have been told they won’t be required to work four days a week until at least June while the agency adds desks to its office floor.
Meanwhile, City AM has heard several other accounts of WPP staffers working and taking calls on benches and from snooker tables because they don’t have a desk.
“People were working from a sofa that had had… dogs on it before,” the exec said.
Asked for a comment, James Murphy, Ogilvy UK chief executive, City AM that most of his London staff were already attending the office a minimum of three days a week.
He added: “We were always going to take a phased approach as we expand our space, as I told the agency back in January. Plus, we do offer flexible hours to those that need it. We have been keeping everyone in the agency updated on progress through emails and Townhall meetings.”
WPP loses crown as world’s largest ad group
The delays to the policy come as WPP battles to arrest consecutive years of flat-lining revenues. Due to the lack of growth ,it was recently overtaken French-rival Publicis as the world’s largest advertising holding company.
The FTSE 100 giant’s share price has fallen over 55 per cent since hitting a post-pandemic high of 1,214 pence at the start of 2022.
It is down 28 per cent since Read announced the return-to-office mandate on 5 January. In preliminary results on 27 February it said global revenue for 2024 fell by one per cent and issued soft guidance for this year.
A WPP spokeswoman said: “Our agencies have been communicating regularly with their people for the last three months.
“Some were always going to take a phased approach, that was communicated from the outset, and it’s no surprise to anyone. We have 12,000 people in multiple agencies and locations in the UK, and it’s good to have more people back together with their colleagues.”
A Grey spokeswoman said the firm’s policy did not represent a delay, adding: “We told people in January we would take a phased approach and that’s what we’re doing.”