Dentsu’s 360i confirmed today that it parted with a small number of staff members this week.
According to multiple sources, the move affected more than 10 employees, most or all of whom worked in the production department at the agency’s New York headquarters.
“Our industry demands a more nimble approach to workflow, which is why we’ve revamped our production department to create a core production team, alongside our Content Lab and project management teams, that’s agile and more relevant to our clients’ needs,” read an agency statement. “Unfortunately, that meant cutting some roles. We deeply appreciate the contributions of the people affected, and are doing all that we can to help them find new places to continue doing great work.”
We began receiving tips yesterday, when the news reportedly came down.
One current employee says that leadership framed the move as a reorganization based on decreased client demand for certain types of services, specifically traditional production work like TV, print and out of home. 360i is not generally known for such campaigns, and the agency has recently moved even further into areas like voice search and social media content that requires faster turnaround.
As in many other agencies, this often means fewer full-time employees in certain departments and more “flexible” talent. A quick glance at 360i’s job listings reveals openings for data analysts, media buyers, developers, paid search specialists and account directors.
Still, one source says the news came as a “shock” to the production team.
360i has been going through some changes. On the executive front, the company recently promoted former president Jared Belsky to CEO as his predecessor Sarah Hofstetter stepped into the chairman role.
That announcement coincided with the departure of Bryan Wiener, who is now leading digital analytics company ComScore, and followed the promotion of former AdAge editor Abbey Klaassen to succeed Belsky. Raig Adolfo also came on as CSO, replacing new McCann strategist Lee Maicon.
According to agency spokespeople, all these moves (with the exception of the latter) were scheduled as part of a gradual leadership realignment.