TLDR: Ogilvy India has reportedly laid off 30-40 employees due to a significant slowdown in client spending and a broader global transition towards AI-driven operational models. This move aligns with parent company WPP’s global restructuring efforts, which include a 5% workforce reduction worldwide and deeper integration of its proprietary AI platform, WPP Open.
Ogilvy India is currently undergoing a workforce reduction, with approximately 30-40 employees reportedly laid off. This development is attributed to a dual challenge: a notable slowdown in client spending across key sectors and a strategic global transition towards artificial intelligence (AI) integration within the advertising industry.
Industry insiders, speaking to Storyboard18, revealed that client expenditures in crucial categories such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), consumer technology, and lifestyle have been aggressively scaled back. This reduction in budgets has compelled agencies like Ogilvy to streamline operations and trim teams. An advertising industry veteran commented, ‘The Indian market is still growing, but agencies are caught between client demands for efficiency, pressure from global headquarters to adopt AI-led models, and the need to retain creative talent. Something has to give, and unfortunately it’s the jobs.’ This sentiment underscores the intense pressure on agencies to adapt to evolving market dynamics while maintaining profitability.
Globally, Ogilvy’s parent company, WPP, is implementing a broader restructuring exercise that involves eliminating about 5% of its worldwide workforce, equating to nearly 700 jobs. This initiative aims to modernize its business model and reposition the agency to operate with a decentralized structure, emphasizing a deeper integration of WPP Open, its proprietary AI platform. The India layoffs are understood to be part of a phased process, with further reductions anticipated in the coming months.
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Beyond the workforce adjustments, Ogilvy has also garnered attention for dismantling its global diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team, reflecting a wider trend observed across holding companies. This restructuring follows WPP’s decision in May 2025 to realign its creative network, placing Grey under Ogilvy’s leadership to foster collaboration and operational efficiency. Despite these changes, Monty Bharali, Chief Talent Officer, Ogilvy India, has stated that ‘Ogilvy India is not undertaking any layoffs,’ suggesting a downplaying of the scale of these changes within the Indian market.
