What Does It Take to Reverse an Ad Agency's Hustle Culture?

A gingerbread house at Christmas, a $50 GrubHub gift card and a pair of Merrell shoes—these are just some of the so-called perks that a Gen Z-focused agency uses to justify $40,000 salaries, excessively-long workdays and weekend tasks. A source at the agency, who chose to remain anonymous, encouraged their fellow employees to unionize in February. Since then, they said, “things have only gotten worse.” “I’m standing in front of a Gen Z ad agency wondering why it’s treating its Gen Z employees like trash,” said the 23-year-old. “When we complain to our boss, we are just told that this is how the industry works.” While agency staff probably won’t observe creative directors sipping glasses of bourbon throughout the workday, parts of the Don Draper lifestyle have stayed strong over time. Alleged perks like on-site gyms, open office floor plans, free meals, game rooms, kegs or happy hours make it easier for employees to fall into a trap that keeps them working long hours. The fun benefits are not inherently bad, but leaders’ efforts to create progressive environments backfire when people get burned out. And while agencies can put the blame on unrealistic expectations from clients, they can also reject this age-old mindset by creating healthy work boundaries that keep their employees healthy and inspired. “When people praise hustle culture, they're praising the appearance of being busy, versus actually praising delivering value,” said Kelsey Raymond, co-founder and CEO of the content marketing agency Influence & Co. The end of hustle culture Agencies can end hustle culture by structuring scopes differently. Many shops require employees to work a certain number of hours each month per client. Employees feel they must fulfill account obligations, even when it forces them to work late or costs the client unnecessary money. Influence & Co. avoids this by scoping clients by deliverable, instead of charging by the hour. Creative director Naomi Duckworth is thankful to work at a company that is particularly in tune with staff members’ mental health needs by starting important conversations and encouraging breaks during particularly tumultuous times. Duckworth pointed to the new buzz term “quiet quitting,” which gained steam on TikTok and refers to a younger generation of workers that won’t embrace hustle culture and silently set boundaries, which often results in them deciding to do the bare minimum at work. “If people have to do this quietly, it’s because they don’t feel comfortable having a conversation about what their needs are,” Duckworth said, adding that agencies must facilitate an environment where people don’t have to suffer in silence. “It’s difficult early in your career, because juniors have to put in extra hours and it’s just part of that career cycle. But juniors have mental health needs, too.” How to Be a Mental Health Ally in the Era of Mass Layoffs A fine line The line between a fun work environment and one that embodies hustle culture can be thin. Tolu Okeowo, an account director at independent media agency Crossmedia, joined the shop back when it had just 30 employees. In those early days, employees had a beer with new hires on the office roof and held the "beer Olympics." Kamran Asghar, the agency’s CEO, remembered that the agency used to have a gong in the office that it would bang after an account win. “I was in my early 20s. And something like that was appetizing,” Okeowo said of the culture, noting that those events brought her lifelong friends—even some who will be bridesmaids at her wedding. When she advanced in her career, Okeowo’s needs changed and as Crossmedia grew, its culture did too. “It feels to us a little tone deaf to use words like [hustle] when people are working as hard as ever, if not harder, through a very difficult time,” said Kristen Metzger, Crossmedia’s chief people officer. Now, Okeowo appreciates different work benefits, like Crossmedia’s new investment in sending its employees on optional retreats with small groups. Crossmedia also has a “pursuit of happiness fund” that its people can draw from to invest in whatever truly adds value to their lives. It gives employees control instead of perks that might not be worth their cost. “People's needs have changed over the last two years,” said Metzger. “Maybe happiness looks like a plane ticket to go someplace because you haven't been able to get out of your house for two years.” she added. Other agencies changed too. “We soon realized that a cycle to work scheme or gym equipment in the office garden are attractive to only a handful of people,” said Al Fox, director of HR at London-based integrated b-to-b marketing shop Fox Agency. No 'bragging rights Kat Gordon, founder and CEO of The 3 Percent Conference, said that it isn’t always the agency’s responsibility to facilitate healthier work balance. Oftentimes, pressure to be “always on” comes from the client, which is why she wants to see more agency leaders move to the brand side. “All these brands were making public declarations about wanting to diversify agency partners, but never turned the mirror on themselves and how they are unwittingly creating situations with tight deadlines and high expectations,” said Gordon. “That means there is only a specific type of person who can work on the account.” According to PR contractor Meaghan F. Washington, hustle culture can be especially pervasive at Black and minority-owned shops. “Black-owned agencies don’t get the million-dollar contracts, and it’s more difficult to pay a staff off limited funds,” she said, explaining that a limited staff can lead to higher levels of burnout. “Clients might say ‘the multicultural community...we don’t have to put a lot of dollars behind spending with them.’” While agencies shouldn’t be blamed for everything, Gordon stressed that they still have a responsibility to check in on employees while respecting the creative process. At a performance review in a previous job, Gordon’s boss told her that while she worked very hard, she didn’t have “bragging rights,” meaning being in the office more would’ve been something to brag about. “This idea that you’re only going to be looked at as valuable if you’re always in motion is completely at odds with creativity,” she said. “There’s a point at which your brain and imagination gets smaller and smaller the longer you’re in the office.” Always on As a self-described introvert, London-based account director Charlotte Schreurs always felt uncomfortable about unspoken expectations that she go out with colleagues after work. Schreurs’ career spans across agencies like RAPP, The&Partnership, OMD and more. Hustle culture fosters drinking culture and leaves people out, she said. Working long hours seemed to be a prerequisite to building positive relationships with colleagues. “It creates this exclusive party that really, if you have a child, or you're above a certain age or have a certain religion, you're not part of. Also it excludes a lot of people who don't enjoy that kind of environment,” she said. Schreurs remembered how a previous employer served breakfast in the morning—and employees who didn’t arrive early enough would miss out. If she didn’t arrive in the office by 9 a.m., it wasn’t uncommon for previous employers to call and see where she was. Before the pandemic, an employer even required Schreurs produce a doctor's note every four weeks to work from home one day a week. “I just think that we need to call out agencies to, you know, give it up. Move on and grow up,” said Schreurs. Agencies Are Rolling Out More Inclusive Family Planning Policies