Just a day after McCann’s Curt Detweiler announcement, sources have confirmed to us that the agency’s New York office has let go of 30 staffers, mostly all due to Verizon Wireless and much less so due to the U.S. Army account.
We’ve been told that McCann “shifted Worldgroup Retail business (point of sale, newspaper inserts, flyers, etc–much of it for Verizon Wireless) to another IPG office outside of NYC where operating costs are lower. And unfortunately, as a consequence, 30 Worldgroup NY staffers have been laid off.”
As for U.S. Army, “there was one McCann NY employee on the Army account who was laid off.” The agency “also laid off 6 individuals outside NY who had McCann Worldgroup Army responsibilities–ie, they didn’t work at a McCann agency, they worked in cities like Albany, for instance, where [the agency has] field activities. The reason was reduced budget support.”
It’s been rumored that the whole Verizon account is in flux as tipsters have been telling us “all sides are up for review” and “Mcgarrybowen is sharpening their knives”, so who knows where this leaves R/GA as well. We’ll keep digging to substantiate this one…
More: “We Hear McGarrybowen Wins Verizon Wireless Project – Android”