Publicis Media has laid off less than 1% of its US workforce due to staffers ignoring its return-to-office policy, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“We have been clear and consistent about our policy that employees work from the office at least three days a week, an expectation that is being met and exceeded by the majority of our talent,” said a Publicis Media US spokesperson.
The spokesperson said Publicis Groupe does not comment on individual employment changes.
A source familiar with the matter said that fewer than 100 people, but in the high double digits, were let go due to “egregious” cases of non-compliance with the policy, which has been firmly in place for about two years. The move is not financially driven, the source added.
There has been speculation that the crackdown affected people who hadn’t come into the office 25 days this year, but a source close to Publicis played down that suggestion.
Publicis Media has 10,000 employees in the US and its brands include Publicis Collective, Publicis Health Media, Spark Foundry, Starcom and Zenith.
MSL is Publicis’ main PR network in the US and globally. Its personnel were not affected by the reductions.
All Publicis Groupe employees around the world have been required to be in the office three days a week, including a mandatory presence on Mondays, with no consecutive remote working days as of the start of this year. There are exceptions for medical situations and remote contracts already established.