Help Wanted: Madison Avenue Is Hiring Like Crazy and Bonuses Are on the Rise
The giant ad agency holding companies Interpublic (IPG) and WPP (WPPGY) both reported their Q3 2010 earnings today, and they both have something in common with Omnicom (OMC), which reported a few days ago: Hiring is up. Employee headcount at these agencies is rising across the board. If you're in the ad business and were displaced in the recession, NOW is the time to get your resume back out there. The details:
- At IPG: Total salary and staff incentive expenses rose 12 percent to $1 billion.
- At WPP: The total number of employees increased 3.5% from December 2009 to 102,759,
- At Omnicom: Salary and service costs as a percentage of revenue increased 1.5% to about $2.2 billion.
It seems difficult to believe that the United States will continue to behave like an emerging market â€" growing this year, so far, for us at 8%, whilst GNP grows at 2%, ...This is what good times in the ad biz look like. So pass the Town Car vouchers, chop me up a line in the bathroom and call the escort service -- because it's 1998 all over again on Madison Avenue! Even IPG's PowerPoint From Hell is finally back in the black. It was last seen in positive territory in Q1 2009 -- eighteen long months ago:Image by Flickr user ori2uru, CC.
