SLOWDOWN TAKES TOLL ON AGENCY STAFF
Staff reductions at Perth’s major agencies indicate the economic downturn is biting hard.
A second round of retrenchments at Marketforce on Friday saw ten people across several divisions lose their jobs. In addition, senior writer Tom Wilson is leaving the agency to join Gatecrasher following its recent Burswood account win and is unlikely to be replaced.
Three weeks ago The Brand Agency retrenched four creative staff, including creative director Dale Simmonds and senior writer Neil Weeks.
303 retrenched four people when it lost HBF at the end of last year and has not replaced other staff who have left through natural attrition such as maternity leave. In October, the agency announced the appointment of senior staff Neil Howlett as group business director and DM specialist, Holly Kemp as creative traffic manager and Sam Kronja as chief financial officer. Only Kemp is still with the agency, Howlett and Kronja both having departed within weeks of their appointment. Howlett has since joined Meerkats.
Overall the outlook amongst agencies is subdued, with one senior executive suggesting 2010 will be even harder as the local economy loses momentum, although some of Perth’s smaller agencies are a little more upbeat about their prospects.
23 Comments
Who are the other creatives from the Brand that got the big flick? My condolences to everyone. There but the grace of God go I…
Finally CB breaks its silence on what has been going on for months.
Maybe now we can have a proper debate on the impact of our state government’s (lack of) response to the crisis and the impact of that on our industry.
Does the core business strength and the viability of an agency’s business model play any part in the selection of CB’s Agency of the Year?
Ouch. Wilson leaving will hurt MF. Wonder who Lorrimar will team with now? I’m free.
BS
Ohhh dear. Better start doing some real work then. I might be next. No more scams for me.
When will this stop? Shit I just arrived at this (large agency) and already I’m feeling a bit insecure. Any predictions?
12.57
Not sure who the other creative were.
Does anyone know how many awards Gatecrasher has won? I don’t think it is very many.
Get used to it creative guys and girls. Just overheard a conversation between two agency heads. In response to the question on how things are going. “Not good and it will be even worse later this week when there will be more BLOOD on the floor.” Felt sick. Couldn’t eat my roll from Joe’s Cake Kitchen.
58 comments on that boring photographers thread and 1 here!
CB are you editing all the good stuff again? Or still at lunch at the Subi?
Yeah, sorry to hear. Expect more in the coming year.
Agencies don’t have to be all bells and whistles to work.
Nice one CB. About time you talked about this on this thread. Creatives losing jobs. What do you think?
Maybe that photographer tosser feels a tad sheepish given his ‘$7k for half a day’s work cauz agencies can afford it’ comment on the photographers soiree thread.
If he doesn’t he bloody well should.
My heart fell to the floor for those that lost their jobs this morning. A very sad day and a reality check for all.
Perth agencies that retrench creatives are incredibly short-sighted. Of all the ad disciplines, creatives are the hardest to recruit locally and the hardest to retain. And once they’ve gone, very few return to WA. The widening gulf between training schemes like AWARD school and real world creative requirements means there’ll be big holes to fill at any agency that attempts to sure up bottom line via retrenchments. I would be paring account management to the bone to save my creative talent.
Tough times ahead. Sorry for everyone who has lost their jobs out who has suffered the retrenchments.
Please ensure you get any payouts such as holiday and retrenchment payments the agencies are required by law to pay you lump sums which are measurable by your time in employment. (They wont tell you)
Check out the gov website for more.
Sure 10.10, but two senior guys like that have hefty salary requirements and if we creatives can’t justify our salaries then we’re in danger of being dumped. You’re also in danger of being dumped if you hit 45 and you don’t own the company.
10.07
First. Yes, I’m sorry to hear about those who lost their jobs. Sad day. Some of those guys are good clients and good friends of mine. Let’s hope they find some new positions soon.
Second. Photographers daily fees is a completely different issue. Nothing to do with those who lost their losing jobs. Don’t mix the paint pots mate. It always goes a messy brown.
7:46. What planet are you on? Any business that supplies any service or product is, by definition, influenced by the financial situation of those that they are supplying. Supply, perceived value and your customers’ ability to pay is what ultimately sets prices.
If I was a photographer in the present market I wouldn’t be so concerned with how I was going to raise my fee to ridiculous levels, I would be knuckling down and trying to figure out how I was going to maintain my present income going into one of the scariest financial periods we have seen. That’s what the rest of us are doing. And if that means you have to shoot a few more weddings or shovel chips at HJs, then so be it – the world doesn’t owe you a living.
You’re right Rusty, keep your head down and your clients happy. A few awards for some cute scam campaign are never gonna pay the mortgage. I think most agencies will have a different approach to winning awards in the next couple of years. Sure, you gotta keep raising the creative bar, but focussing on ‘awardy’ work is hardly priority when the market is nosediving. Safer work across the board is my prediction. Sad, but true.
7.27.
That fat, forty-five and fired attitude is irrelevant in Perth. Creatives here need to be able to move from an award-winning scam ad to a 60-page brochure without breaking stride and you only get that kind of versatility through experience. Just be careful you don’t price yourself out of the market based on over-inflated ideas of your own value.
Sorry to hear about the retrenchments. It’s not fun. I started in this industry 20 years ago and had same thing happen to me with the 1990 recession. Straight out of uni and lowest paid, thought I was okay but wasn’t. But kept on applying for jobs and poured beers in the interim. Best day (not!) was waiting on tables at the pub I worked at to the same people I had worked alongside with at an ad agency (remember Mojo Marty?). Humbling, slightly degrading, but I had bills to pay.
Have also survived two agency mergers and a company close down. To those recently retrenched… hang in there – you might have to do something else in the short term if you need to, but things do pick up.
Guys, don’t give me that bullcrap about the work getting ‘safer’ now that the market is in the shitter. It was impossible to get anything half-decent up when everyone was rich and fat and happy. This is actually a chance to get some hard-working creative up, and maybe even getting some marketing managers to actually listen to our advice for once.
11.09, you’re in fantasyland mate, clients love an excuse for demanding safe work. When the government changed hands last year ALL our govt clients cited it as a reason NOT to do any of the more exciting concepts, furrowing their brows and muttering ‘change of minister’ every time they got a concept under their noses.
Work will definitely get safer. It’s not an excuse, it’s a sad fact.