By Mark Sweney
Publication Date: 2026-02-13 17:00:00
British advertising agencies recorded their biggest annual staff outflows last year, led by younger workers, as artificial intelligence tools threaten to replace workers and force the industry to make job and cost cuts.
The number of employees in creative agencies, which are facing acute pressure due to the introduction of AI tools that reduce or even replace the need for agency staff, fell by more than 14% in 2025.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), which has been reporting on headcount in the UK advertising industry since 1959, said it was the biggest year-on-year fall since it began reporting headcount in creative and media agencies separately in 2004.
The IPA, made up of member agencies that handle more than 85% of the UK’s £22 billion in annual advertising spend, said total headcount fell to 24,963 from 26,787 in 2024.
Creative agencies, many of which are based in the center of the industry in London, saw their headcount fall by more than 2,000, from 14,775 to 12,659.
The decline was…
