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Wieden+Kennedy Portland underwent a significant round of layoffs this week, the agency confirmed to ADWEEK.
Multiple sources told ADWEEK that the agency’s Portland office cut a fifth of its staff in a restructuring designed to better align the needs of the business with client scopes. Sources also said W+K New York underwent a very small round of simultaneous cuts that aren’t tied to this restructuring.
Wieden+Kennedy Portland has had an up and down year and a half with several client wins, including DoorDash, MLB, Allstate and Eli Lilly, while it lost accounts Fisher Price, TurboTax and Duracell. The agency did not undergo any significant layoffs following previous account losses as it was able to reabsorb employees on those accounts into other pieces of business.
“Layoffs are terrible. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. But, we’ve gotten to a place in Portland where we need to make changes to align better with how our clients work. … Our focus right now is supporting everyone through this transition,” said Jason White, president, W+K Portland, in a statement.
The Portland office recently revamped its leadership team, adding White, who returned to W+K after a number of client-side years and most recently served as the CMO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming. The agency also added co-chief creative officers Azsa West and Felipe Ribeiro, who moved to the Portland office from São Paulo.
Roles in departments across the entire organization were impacted, as were roles across every level of seniority. The agency declined to provide the total number of employees impacted and specifics of the restructuring.
According to information provided to ADWEEK’s Agency of the Year program, W+K’s revenue was relatively flat from 2022 to 2023, with its Bodega social studio being a strong driver of growth.
W+K’s layoffs are not an anomaly in the industry right now. Creative shops far and wide have experienced cuts, with holding company creative agencies feeling the brunt of job losses due to declines in client spend. Most agencies that have performed layoffs have done so quietly, tactfully cutting small numbers in drips, rather than in sweeping cuts.
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