Digitas Restructures, Lays Off Several Dozen

Digitas laid off several dozen staff in the United States as part of a restructuring of its offices in the United States.

“In response to changing client needs, we have taken the difficult step of restructuring staffing levels at some of our U.S. offices,” the agency said in a statement. “We have redeployed talent wherever possible, but the realities of the current economy did require that we let some talented people go in order to best position the agency for continued growth and success.”

The Publicis-owned agency declined to say how many people would be let go, or in what offices. Late yesterday Silicon Alley Insider pegged the number at 70, including 25 in New York. A reliable source told ClickZ those numbers are close but slightly higher than the actual figure, and confirmed the New York office is affected.

Layoffs at Publicis-owned Digitas follow a tough week for digital marketing and media job losses in general, as Yahoo commenced its headcount reduction of approximately 1,500, about 10 percent of its global staff. Vendor and ad network layoffs have been reported at Eyeblaster, Exponential, and Pointroll.

Agency layoffs are prevalent, although less widely reported. Razorfish, Modernista, and Curiosity Group are among those that cut back on staff in recent weeks.