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Are you asking generally, because of the time of year? Or because of market changes?
Generally -
Late-year; typically more layoffs.
Mid-year; not so much.
(But, late-year also see the biggest recruitment pushes…)
Markets? Who knows.
Every year, for the past 30+, Canadian companies have increased their total marketing budgets (with two exceptions).
And, the total number of jobs in the industry has increased almost every year (dipping in 2020... but salaries exploded then too..).
The landscape may seem gloomy…
But, that’s nothing new.
Maybe this time it’ll be different…
Lol. This is warped thinking.
You’re correct that for 2+ decades some Canadian companies total marketing budgets have increased (most have decreased… but that’s another discussion), but where that money is going has changed significantly. Most of the companies who have increased their budgets spend the majority of it on adtech (both internal and external) - the spend on advertising and external agencies has decreased massively even if you look at it within the last 10 years.
The total number of jobs in advertising services has increased globally, but shrunk massively in Canada (and all tier-2 markets worldwide). It’s the same story in AUS, NZ, FR, etc. And for the countries where sector employment has increased, growth is almost exclusively in media related sectors. Total employment in other marketing services is down massively in just the last 5 years, let alone the last 3 decades. If you look at the UK as an example, employment in creative agencies dropped ~10% last year.
Layoffs this year are almost guaranteed given Omnicom’s announcement on further cost savings a few months ago. Anyone expecting the industry to miraculously “recover” should get real and realize it’s going to shrink further.
Smells like purple