WPP introduces global return to office directive mandating that all employees come to the office four days a week from April

Advertising holding company WPP has sent a memo to all employees mandating that they come to the office four days a week from April.

 

The memo from WPP CEO Mark Read (above) and sent to 110,000 staff internationally from agencies including Ogilvy, VML and Mindshare states: “From the beginning of April this year, the expectation across WPP will be that most of us spend an average of four days a week in the office.”

“I believe that we do our best work when we are together in person. It’s easier to learn from each other, it’s a better way to mentor colleagues starting out in the industry, and it helps us win pitches as a truly integrated team,” said Read.

Last year Publicis Groupe instructed employees to return to the office at least three days a week. US trade publication AdAge reported that the network later fired hundreds of employees for non-compliance.

The full memo from Read is below:

To everyone at WPP

I hope you had a restful holiday season and the chance to recharge over the break.

As I wrote to you in December, 2025 is going to be a year of opportunity for WPP — a year when we can win through a relentless focus on our clients.

With that in mind, I wanted to share our priorities for the next 12 months, as well as a change we are going to make in the way we work.

Clients, creativity and our work
WPP’s mission is to deliver creative transformation for the world’s leading brands. This means not only producing exceptional work in every discipline of modern marketing, but helping clients transform how they operate for a very different world. This is ever more true of our largest and most important clients, who come to us for the quality of what we do, the breadth of our skills, and our ability to prepare them for the future.

While industry mergers and jostling for status may distract our competitors, focus will be paramount for us in 2025. We have the opportunity to stand out by being more obsessed than ever with serving our clients. In every single decision we make, we should ask ourselves “how will this help us do even better work for our clients?” Those companies who embrace this philosophy will be those who emerge on top.

Technology, data and AI
Demand from clients for creative ideas, effective media plans, brilliant PR campaigns and outstanding design remains constant, but the way in which we deliver our work is changing faster than I have ever seen. That’s why technology, data and AI are at the heart of our plans for the future, and why adoption of our AI-driven marketing operating system WPP Open has grown so quickly. Keeping up that momentum is another key objective for 2025.

WPP Open helped us win a number of 2024’s biggest reviews and we are going to increase our investment in Open this year to build on the success it has brought us. It will be central to how we bring an integrated, AI-enabled offer to market, with the goal of producing better results for clients and winning more than our fair share of pitches in the year ahead.

A culture of winning, together
Finally, we are going to focus on the culture of our company. For all our technological sophistication, we remain a people business. Across everything we do, our success still relies on the fundamentals of human connection, creativity and relationships. Teams of talented individuals, working towards common goals, are what drives growth for our clients and our agencies.

I believe that we do our best work when we are together in person. It’s easier to learn from each other, it’s a better way to mentor colleagues starting out in the industry, and it helps us win pitches as a truly integrated team. The data from across WPP agencies shows that higher levels of office attendance are associated with stronger employee engagement, improved client survey scores and better financial performance. More of our clients are moving in this direction and expecting it of the teams who work with them.

For all these reasons, spending more time together is important to all of us, and we are making a change to help that happen. From the beginning of April this year, the expectation across WPP will be that most of us spend an average of four days a week in the office.

This doesn’t mean we’re going back to old ways of doing things. During the pandemic we all learned the value of greater flexibility in our working lives and of being trusted to balance work and personal commitments. We need to keep that spirit of flexibility and trust, and will approach this transition with pragmatism and an understanding of people’s different circumstances. There will be a clear process to request additional flexibility — including for those with caring responsibilities, health issues and other considerations. Some roles that have always been fully or largely remote will continue as they are.

We know that for some colleagues this new policy will require adjustments to their routines and arrangements, which is why it will not come into effect until April — giving people time to make any changes they need to. There is also work to do between now and April to ensure we make the best use of our workspaces. Our WPP campuses offer superb working environments in beautifully designed buildings with leading environmental credentials. But it will take detailed planning in the coming months to address capacity requirements and other related areas, and I’d like to thank the teams who are already hard at work figuring that out.

Your leaders are working closely with the WPP People and Real Estate teams, and will follow up with next steps for your part of the business. It’s important that we take a consistent approach across our agencies, who will communicate the requirements to you in detail. In the meantime, visit insideWPP for FAQs, details of the policy, and an AI-powered chat agent to help answer your questions.

A collaborative, winning culture is what makes WPP and our agencies a great place to work, and it’s the key to our future growth and success. I firmly believe this change we are making will protect and enhance that culture, for the benefit of everyone.

As always, if you want to get in touch, email me.
Mark