WPP to slash over 7,000 jobs worldwide

WPP is expected to slash a total of 7,100 jobs this year with many to go in the UK, Europe and the US.

During the first quarter WPP already reduced its headcount by 3,600. Around 2,200 of those were redundancies, while 1,400 were due to natural attrition, where staff who had left were not
replaced.

Analysts say the rest of the year will likely see WPP cut up to 1,500 more jobs, while around 2,000 will also go through natural attrition.

Earlier this year, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell (pictured) said that mature markets such as Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and United States were “under pressure” and that the company would balance between the “revenue and the headcount”.

Last month, the marketing services group, parent of Mindshare, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and JWT, reported a 6% fall in like for like revenue in the first quarter.

It said that cuts in client ad budgets and the global economic crisis had a negative impact on the group and that it did not expect to see recovery until next year.

WPP clients include Ford, Diageo, Kellogg, Kraft, Nestle, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Shell and Colgate.

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