WPP announces plans to slash annual costs by £500 million by 2028 through a comprehensive restructuring effort aimed at revitalizing its operations.
Job Reductions and Operational Streamlining
The advertising giant prepares for job cuts, targeting redundancies in support functions, real estate positions, and other areas. While the exact number of roles affected remains undisclosed, the company commits to deduplicating operations for efficiency.
As part of the overhaul, WPP intends to divest non-core businesses. Industry speculation points to the PR firm Burson as a potential candidate.
New Organizational Structure
Under CEO Cindy Rose, who assumed leadership last summer after heading Microsoft in the UK, WPP shifts from a holding company model to a unified entity. The restructured group features four key divisions: WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions.
Advertising agencies Ogilvy, VML, and AKQA will consolidate under the WPP Creative division. The company also establishes four regional operations: North America, Latin America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific.
Cindy Rose stated: “Our recent underperformance stems from excessive organizational complexity, lack of an integrated operating model, and inconsistent strategic execution. While disappointing, these issues lie within our control to address, and progress is underway.”
Financial Impact and Market Reaction
Shares in WPP hit an 18-year low, dropping 6.89% or 18.77p to 253.63p during Wednesday morning trading.
The restructuring and job cuts will incur approximately £400 million in costs over two years. A significant portion of the savings will fund high-growth initiatives, including a dedicated AI partnership division.
For 2025, comparable revenue declined 3.6% to £13.6 billion, while annual pre-tax profit fell 26% to £1.1 billion. WPP, employing about 100,000 people worldwide, confronts challenges from AI tools that threaten traditional services and a client exodus amid lagging AI and data capabilities compared to competitors.
Meanwhile, U.S. rival Omnicom, following its £9.6 billion acquisition of Interpublic last November, has doubled its annual cost-saving targets, with job reductions also anticipated.
