- Adweek Staff

BOSTON Independent i-shop The Barbarian Group late last week cut 10-15 employees, mainly from its Boston office, according to sources.

The cut amounts to roughly 10-15 percent of the agency's staff and the layoffs were made across all departments, sources said.

A Barbarian Group representative confirmed that cuts took place based on "restructuring," but would offer no further comment.

Sources said the move reflects the fact that, despite being technically headquartered in Boston, the firm has handled an increasing amount of assignments from its New York digs in recent months. The cuts are not believed to be the result of lost business.

Many agencies of all sizes and specialties have been trimming payrolls, especially in light of the lingering recession and lower client spending.

The three big Boston shops -- Havas' Arnold and IPG units Mullen and Hill, Holliday -- have all made at least two staff reductions apiece since the economy began to spiral downward last fall. Arnold in March instituted across-the-board paycuts for those employees that remain.

In May, BBDO in Atlanta and GSD&M Idea City in Austin, Texas, both units of Omnicom Group, had layoffs. The latter, like Arnold, also reduced salaries.

These newly unemployed, said recruiters, will need to adjust their expectations in terms of accepting lower compensation and less impressive job titles if they're lucky enough to find work in the ad business at all.