The move comes on top of about 11,000 positions cut since early 2025, bringing headcount to 97,388 as of 30 June 2026. The fresh reductions are expected in the second half of this year.
The cuts are part of WPP’s Elevate28 transformation programme targeting £500 million in gross annualised cost savings by 2028, with £100 million expected in 2026.
The plan involves selling non-core businesses, reducing its property footprint including consolidating three Thames-side London buildings into two, and moving from a holding company structure to four integrated units – WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions – unified through its AI platform WPP Open.
Rose, who took over as CEO on 1 September 2025 after senior roles at Microsoft, outlined in February a return-to-growth plan for 2027 by folding creative agencies Ogilvy, VML and AKQA under WPP Creative to harness AI.
The group faces industry-wide headwinds. At least 18,000 jobs have been lost across Omnicom, Dentsu and WPP in 18 months, as generative AI enables clients to produce content and manage campaigns at scale.
WPP earlier reported better-than-expected H1 results after selling 15 non-core assets, with CFO Joanne Wilson noting most savings will come from people costs while reinvesting in data, commerce and influencer marketing.
