Independent creative agency Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) has announced it is winding down its Mumbai operations and scaling back its workforce in the Delhi office to "a group of employees who will work with the agency’s global leadership to support critical shared services and global business operations—which will not include advertising services at this time."
This news comes a day after the agency's India chief creative officer (CCO) Santosh Padhi (Paddy) and president Ayesha Ghosh announced their departure. The head of the Delhi office, Shreekant Srinivasan, has also quit.
In an email to the press, the agency said it has been aligning its global operations to meet current client needs and future objectives, and it is "not doubling down on India." Instead, W+K is scaling back and reassessing how the Indian market fits into its future plans.
Paddy and Ghosh will remain with the agency until the end of the year to assist with the transition. Moving forward, Delhi employees will report to global leadership.
W+K entered India in 2007, operating solely from its Delhi base until 2022, when Paddy joined and opened the Mumbai office alongside Ghosh. The agency has confirmed it will not be rehiring leadership to replace Paddy and Ayesha and will not be taking on new client opportunities in either Delhi or Mumbai for the foreseeable future.
“We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of our departing staff. It is never easy to say goodbye, and as we scale back our workforce, we are working closely with departing employees to ensure their transition is as smooth as possible,” the agency said.
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