Staff numbers at creative agencies, which are facing acute pressure from the rollout of AI tools that reduce or even replace the need for agency staff, fell more than 14% in 2025. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), which has been reporting on staffing in the UK ad industry since 1959, said it was the biggest year-on-year slump since it started separately reporting staff numbers at creative and media agencies in 2004. At creative agencies, many of which are based in the industry’s heartland of London, staff numbers fell by more than 2,000, from 14,775 to 12,659. Staff numbers in that demographic fell from 3,632 to 2,936. Creative agencies are also giving up on graduate recruitment – as trainees, apprentices or school-leaver apprentices – with just 43% saying they took on any as employees last year.

Source: The Guardian February 16, 2026 14:00 UTC