WPP Will Bring Employees Back to the Office Four Days a Week

Global holding company WPP will require employees to return to the office at least four days a week starting in April. The decision will affect the company’s 100,000-plus employees worldwide.

In a memo to staff obtained by the Financial Times, WPP CEO Mark Read wrote: “From the beginning of April this year, the expectation … will be that most of us spend an average of four days a week in the office.” Read added that the company’s “success still relies on the fundamentals of human connection, creativity and relationship,” and “we do our best work when we are together in person.”

The policy lets the employee pick which day to remain remote, and individual circumstances will be considered for each employee, with exceptions going through a review.

The pandemic changed the way the marketing world worked, with remote work a necessity for most agencies and brands. But as the pandemic subsided, many companies realized both the need to be together and also the cost of having an empty office building.

Brands have implemented different policies, with varying degrees of acceptance and success. Financial services firm Nationwide required no formal return, while brands including Google, IBM, Apple, JPMorgan Chase and Uber told their workers they were expected back in the office full time.

Agencies have done the same. While some used the pandemic to cut down on office space and hire talented people who were nowhere near their headquarters, others desired people return to the office. While many still have hybrid policies, there has been a slow trend toward adopting stricter return to office mandates.

In the latter half of 2023, Publicis issued a memo stating that employees should return to the office three days a week. In the memo, Publicis called the office “an integral part of creating an inclusive and engaging work culture for the future, fueling creativity and innovation while fostering deep client connections, strengthening our interpersonal relationships, and enriching learning opportunities.”

Up until this point, WPP-owned agencies were allowed to make their own hybrid working policies, though headquarters employees were required to be in the office three days a week, according to the FT’s report. Amazon has apparently told its global staff that it needs to be in office five days a week.

WPP did not comment on the decision.