Real Chemistry has eliminated 66 positions, representing 3% of its 2,000-person workforce.

The impacted employees, spanning varying departments, were provided severance packages including healthcare benefits and career support to ease the transition, said Real Chemistry CEO Shankar Narayanan.

These changes are both necessary and difficult, given the market headwinds faced by our clients and the impact to our business, Narayanan said in a statement to PRWeek. We approached making them in a thoughtful way and believe they help us be more agile in how we partner with our clients and continue to invest in innovation that exceeds their expectations.

He added that Real Chemistry has always stayed fluid, and it made sense to do this now to support our continued growth in 2024.

The reduction comes amid recent leadership additions. Rachi Govil joined Real Chemistry as chief client officer of integrated marketing communications in September; Steve Behm was added to lead the crisis and corporate reputation practice in August; and Brian Tjugum joined as global social impact practice leader the same month.

Real Chemistry joins a series of firms cutting back on staffing this year. Ketchum let go of more than 20 employees this week; BCW laid off 21 North America employees earlier this month; Zeno Group eliminated 3% of its global workforce in June; Edelman laid off about 240 employees, or 4% of its workforce; and WE let go of less than 5% of its staff the same month.

Additionally, Praytell laid off fewer than 10 employees due to a bogey in May and Weber Shandwick eliminated the roles of just under two dozen staff members in late February.

Real Chemistry reported a revenue increase of 17% to $555 million globally and 18% to $513 million in the U.S. in 2022, according to PRWeeks 2023 Agency Business Report.

This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.

Read more here:
Real Chemistry eliminates 3% of its workforce - MM+M Online