British advertising group WPP announced a reduction of more than 1,200 jobs as part of its ongoing efforts to streamline operations and accelerate a turnaround strategy. The company, which owns prominent agencies including Ogilvy and Grey, reported that its workforce has decreased by 1.3% to 97,388 employees since December.

The announcement accompanied the release of WPP’s half-year financial results, which showed a 3.4% decline in operating profit to £398 million. Although revenues slipped 3.2% on a like-for-like basis to £6.4 billion, the figures were better than some investors had anticipated. The firm also noted a nearly 6% reduction in staff costs during the first half of the year.

WPP has been undergoing a significant transformation under the leadership of CEO Cindy Rose, a former Microsoft executive who took charge in September. Rose highlighted the company’s expanding partnerships with technology giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon to integrate new artificial intelligence (AI) tools into its services. She described the performance as encouraging, noting ongoing progress in cost savings and emphasising that the financial turnaround will take time to fully materialize.

The push toward AI integration comes as clients increasingly tighten marketing budgets and explore automated, lower-cost campaign solutions. To address this, WPP announced a plan in February to generate £500 million in savings by 2028 through various efficiency measures.

WPP’s shares surged as much as 30% following the results, marking the fastest rise since 1995 and making it the largest gainer on the FTSE 250 that day. This boost followed a turbulent period for the company, which fell out of the FTSE 100 index in December for the first time in almost three decades.

Industry analysts have expressed cautious optimism about WPP’s direction. Steve Liechti of Deutsche Numis Research described the latest results as “very encouraging” while noting it remains early in the company’s recovery efforts. The job cuts and technological investments signal WPP’s commitment to realigning its business model amid a shifting advertising landscape.