Advertising giant WPP has told staff to be in the office four days per week starting from April.
More than 110,000 staff internationally from WPP agencies, such as AKQA, Ogilvy, VML, EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker, received the news via an internal memo from CEO Mark Read.
"Spending more time together is important to all of us, and we are making a change to help that happen," Read stated in the memo first published by Business Insider.
"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.
"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."
Headquarter staff previously were expected in the office three days a week and individual agencies mostly set arrangements on local conditions.
The policy is not official until April to give staff time to make "adjustments to their routines and arrangements," Read wrote.
Under the new policy, WPP will allow staff one flexible working day a week and consider individual circumstances through a formal approval process, Business Insider was told by a source.
AdNews is seeking comment from local WPP spokespeople.
This year WPP Sydney moved into a new campus in Shelley Street, Barangaroo, housing 13 agencies and more than 1300 employees.
WPP is the first local holding group to mandate more than three-days in office since COVID.
Publicis, Omnicom and IPG require staff three office days a week.
Early last year Snapchat mandated at least four office days internationally, as a result at least two senior people locally excited the company as they had moved away from Sydney during COVID.
In the note to staff, Read said the company was going to focus on culture.
"For all our technological sophistication, we remain a people business," he said.
"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."
He said 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."
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