Hill Holliday went through a round of layoffs last week which the agency says impacted around 3% of staff.
Boston Business Journal reported last summer that Hill Hollday employs around 635 employees across all of its offices, which would put the total impacted by the staffing reductions at around 19.
The layoffs follow the agency losing a major longstanding client in Bank of America. Earlier this month, Bank of America consolidated its account with Publics Groupe via dedicated unit GroupeConnect. A source with knowledge of the account claimed that Bank of America made the move as a cost-cutting measure without a review.
In a statement, Hill Holliday chairman and CEO Karen Kaplan acknowledged the need for a quick response after longtime client Bank of America consolidated its account with Publicis Groupe. She explained that while such a decision is “never easy,” the agency had “an obligation to our employees, our clients and our shareholders to recalibrate for future success.”
Here is the statement in full:
“We are incredibly proud of the turnaround story we helped write for the Bank of America. When you part ways with a client after 20 years, in our business, you must respond quickly. To that end, we had a 3% staff reduction, which is never easy. However, we owed it to our employees to show as much compassion and respect as possible, to each and every one of them, under these difficult circumstances. We also have an obligation to our employees, our clients and our shareholders to recalibrate for future success.”