Interpublic Group has reduced its global workforce by 2,400 employees, or about 4.5%, since January, as it prepares to be taken over by Omnicom.
According to its SEC stock market filing for the second quarter and first half of 2025, IPG cut 1500 roles in the first three months of the year, and a further 900 in the second quarter up to 30 June.
The reductions affected roles at an executive, regional and account management level, the filing stated, as well as “administrative, creative and media production personnel”.
IPG confirmed that the loss of 2400 job roles was accurate when approached by Campaign, but declined to comment further.
IPG has also undertaken a restructure this year as it prepares for acquisition by Omnicom.
Plans for the shake-up were initially revealed by chief executive Philippe Krakowsky in an investor call on 12 February, following the group’s full-year results for 2024.
In that call, Krakowsky outlined that the restructure was expected to save IPG about $250m in 2025, and that the savings would have minimal overlap with the $750 million (£564 million) in “synergies" expected to be created by the merger with Omnicom.
IPG also carried out a headcount reduction in 2024, under which staff numbers fell by 4100 to 53,300 by the end of the year. However, part of the reduction was linked to the sale of agencies such as Hill Holliday and Deutsch New York.
The US and the UK, IPG’s two largest markets, took the biggest hits on jobs in 2024.
As of the end of June 2025, IPG said on its earnings call that its global headcount was 51,300 people, a reduction of 2,000 staff members.
However, it is understood that the remaining 400 roles were officially removed from headcount figures after June 30, due to a difference in timing between when staff are notified and when they leave payroll. Including those, IPG’s headcount will have dropped to about 50,900 people, which would be equivalent to a drop of about 4.5% since January.
Omnicom, which is led by CEO John Wren (pictured above, left, alongside Krakowsky), did not disclose any updated employee numbers at its own recent Q2 results. It previously cut 3,000 roles during 2024 and had 74,900 staff at the year-end.
In the UK, Omnicom and IPG are currently awaiting a decision from the Competition and Markets Authority as to whether or not it will launch a further investigation into the deal between the two companies.
The CMA launched an inquiry into Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG in May to uncover whether the deal will result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the ad market. The deadline for the first phase of the CMA’s inquiry is 13 August.
US regulators approved the deal in June.
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