Unpacking Agency Employment Decline and Progress on Gender and Diversity Efforts — with Lianre Ro...
•March 2, 2026
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Why It Matters
The shrinking talent pipeline threatens the future leadership and creative capacity of agencies, while ongoing diversity gains could be eroded if recruitment and mentorship are not prioritized.
Key Takeaways
- •Agency employment fell 14.3% in 2023, hitting creatives hardest.
- •Hiring for under‑25 talent dropped 19.2%, shrinking entry‑level pipeline.
- •Gender and ethnic diversity improved, yet pay gaps and geographic gaps persist.
- •AI adoption and consolidation accelerate role reductions across creative agencies.
- •Mentors warn of long‑term leadership gaps without renewed talent influx.
Summary
The Institute for Practitioners and Advertising (IPA) released its latest agency census, revealing a stark contraction in creative‑agency employment. Overall agency headcount fell 6.8%, with creative firms bearing the brunt at a 14.3% decline, while new hiring dropped more than 40% and graduate recruitment slipped from 56% to 43.4%.
The data highlights a dramatic loss of young talent: the proportion of staff under 25 fell 19.2% year‑on‑year to just 11.8% of the workforce. Lean Robinson, campaigning chair of Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership, linked the drop to a combination of industry consolidation, accelerated AI adoption, and tighter budget pressures that force agencies to prioritize speed over training. She noted that entry‑level roles are disappearing, leaving senior staff stretched and jeopardising the pipeline for future leaders.
Robinson’s personal experience underscores the urgency. She recalled being the oldest person in her agency at 32 and warned that without a steady flow of junior talent, agencies risk “hollowing out” a generation. Her mentorship work with the Marketing Academy Foundation and WACKLE illustrates how visibility for Black women and structured mentoring can mitigate some of the diversity gaps, even as pay caps and geographic inequities linger.
The implications are two‑fold: agencies must confront immediate talent shortages while safeguarding long‑term leadership development, and they need to balance technology‑driven efficiencies with human capital investment. Continued progress on gender and ethnic representation offers a positive signal, but without renewed recruitment and mentorship initiatives, the industry may face a chronic skills deficit that hampers creativity and growth.
Original Description
In February, the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) released its latest Agency Census. The findings showed an agency market in contraction: employment at creative agencies fell 14.3% last year – and that’s before Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG and subsequently announced it would cut thousands more jobs globally.
New hiring dropped over 40%, with young people especially finding careers in media and advertising hard to break into, let alone remain in.
However, the Census also registered continued progress in gender representation and ethnic diversity at agencies, even if pay gaps persist and geographical diversity is lacking.
Lianree Robinson is the campaigning chair for Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership (WACL). She also works as the CEO of The Marketing Academy Foundation and as a mentor for Who’s Your Momma London.
If that wasn’t enough to keep Robinson busy, she’s also begun writing a monthly column for us at The Media Leader.
Robinson joins host Jack Benjamin to discuss the findings of the IPA Agency Census, and provide a sense check of the progress the media and advertising industries have made with regard to gender and ethnicity inclusion.
Highlights:
5:38: IPA Agency Census toplines
7:16: What has caused the creative agency labour market contraction?
10:20: Challenges faced by under-25s employees
19:24: Progress, but "relatively slow progress", on gender representation and ethnic diversity
24:43: Persistent gender and ethnic pay gaps
27:59: WACL's key priorities
31:33: Geographical diversity needed
Related articles:
Agency employment declines 6.8% as creative roles hollowed out (https://uk.themedialeader.com/agency-employment-declines-6-8-as-creative-roles-hollowed-out/)
Why do female-founded agencies remain the exception? (https://uk.themedialeader.com/why-do-female-founded-agencies-remain-the-exception/)
I didn’t take the ‘traditional’ route into media. That’s exactly why it worked (https://uk.themedialeader.com/i-didnt-take-the-traditional-route-into-media-thats-exactly-why-it-worked/)
Ask Nabs Anything: Handling redundancy, rejection and mental health — with Nabs’ Annabel McCaffrey (https://uk.themedialeader.com/ask-nabs-anything-handling-redundancy-rejection-and-mental-health-with-nabs-annabel-mccaffrey/)
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