Interpublic Group (IPG) has laid off 3,200 employees and reduced its global real estate footprint ahead of its merger with Omnicom Group. The restructuring incurred $450 million in costs. The deal, expected to close this month, aims to save $750 million and streamline agency operations amid declining revenues and industry consolidation.
Interpublic Group (IPG) has laid off 3,200 employees this year—including 800 in September—as part of a sweeping cost-reduction initiative tied to its impending merger with Omnicom Group. The details emerged in IPG’s latest 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shedding light on the company’s restructuring efforts as it prepares for one of the largest consolidations in advertising history.
The filing revealed that the layoffs affected a broad cross-section of roles across executive, regional, and account management, as well as administrative, creative, and media production positions. Alongside workforce reductions, IPG also trimmed its global real estate footprint by 730,000 square feet this year, including 135,000 square feet in the third quarter alone.
In total, the company incurred approximately $450 million in impairment costs linked to both staff and real estate reductions, including $177 million in severance expenses and $108 million in lease impairments.
These measures come as IPG readies itself for the final phase of its merger with Omnicom Group, expected to close this month. The U.S. regulators granted approval for the deal in September, following a consent decree that bars the merged entity from influencing advertisers’ spending decisions based on political or ideological beliefs—unless explicitly requested by clients.
When the merger was first announced in December, the companies projected $750 million in cost savings, signaling a major consolidation of operations across the two holding giants. IPG’s workforce reductions have been ongoing throughout the year, with earlier cuts at IPG Mediabrands and Acxiom in March, where the company shed 2,400 positions in the first half of 2025.
The restructuring aligns with Omnicom’s broader strategy to streamline overlapping businesses and eliminate redundancies across its network. Industry insiders anticipate that once the merger is complete, Omnicom will introduce a new organizational structure that may phase out or consolidate several long-standing agency brands.
Last month, Omnicom responded to speculation that it would retire its global creative network DDB, stating that it is “undertaking a rigorous and considered process to ensure we have the very best solutions for the future—for us and for our clients.”
For IPG, the timing of the layoffs coincided with its final earnings report as a public company, released on November 10, showing a 5% year-over-year revenue decline. The numbers underscore the financial pressure both holding companies face amid tightening client budgets, evolving media ecosystems, and growing competition from digital-first marketing firms and consultancies.
The merger between Omnicom and IPG marks a historic reshaping of the global advertising landscape. Together, they will form a powerhouse with combined resources spanning creative, data, and media capabilities—yet the transition will also bring significant cultural and structural challenges.
As the industry watches closely, the success of the merger may hinge on whether the newly combined company can balance efficiency with creativity—retaining the innovative edge that once defined both Omnicom and IPG’s legacy agencies, even as they prepare for a future driven by scale, automation, and data integration.
