Edelman makes 15 roles redundant as COVID-19 adds to business pressures
Public relations and marketing consulting firm Edelman has made 15 staff members redundant as it grapples with shifts in the business and the impact of COVID-19.
The agency said it had already been making plans to reduce non-essential costs, but the public health crisis had exacerbated the pain.
“The impact of COVID-19 has made the challenges even more difficult,” a spokesperson confirmed to Mumbrella.
So Richard Edelman’s statement of no COVID-19 redundancies (made in US PR Week) didn’t extend to Australia? https://www.prweek.com/article/1678546/richard-edelman-tells-global-staff-no-job-losses-due-coronavirus
https://www.prweek.com/article/1678546/richard-edelman-tells-global-staff-no-job-losses-due-coronavirus
There is no getting away from the massive impact on business globally and locally of this pandemic, tough decisions have to be made. However the timing and decision to make redundancies (no furloughs?) seems peculiar, particularly given Richard’s statement in March there “would be no job losses related to the COVID-19 situation.” And “There’s never been a more important time for our industry, and we must take the lead because this is also an opportunity.”
Considering Edelman’s financial clout and Australian Government support offer to firms negatively impacted, it is hard to imagine Edelman does not have the cashflow to cover 15 local staff at least through September (when support starts to dry up). Nor does their communication seem to be showing leadership. Why is a “spokesperson” rather than a leader quoted above, or taking ownership of this decision?
At least they are “reviewing” non-essential travel (?) and entertainment…
‘Spokesperson’ is not named, I suspect, so that future Google searches don’t turn up negative news stories.
https://www.prweek.com/article/1678546/richard-edelman-tells-global-staff-no-job-losses-due-coronavirus
Feel sorry to those who felt reassured by the CEO’s comments
Way to communicate a message! What has happened to humanity? Or is this is just business as usual in this fake information age?
Talk about an own goal. The use of a spokesperson suggests a lack of courage and conviction.
Let’s also for a minute assume that Edelman hasn’t stepped out to proactively announce these redundancies (it’s a private company, it has no regulatory need or otherwise to do so), and its been staff impacted that might have shared something on social that was picked up my Mumbrella peeps, with reactive commentary quoted from Edelman’s business leaders in the above context. It’s still not great, and made worse by Richard Edelman’s promises of no staff redundancies during this time (which for a consulting firm is near impossible to promise – Your capacity to retain is based on you ability to have and retain staff resources to service clients that have money to spend!) This is an unfortunate situation, but let’s not turn this into a industry mud-slinging episode. We’re all finding this difficult, and for those who’ve lost their roles due to this, sending you strength and hoping that great opportunities are there for you in the not-too-distant-future. Consultancy leaders, it would have been nice for you to step up and own some of this commentary, so keep that in mind for next time.
Hi,
Just confirming Edelman did not proactively push out this story. We were tipped off by a source, and so chased it down.
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
“…it is up to us to continue to show leadership as an industry.”
Surely you have to start to show leadership before you can continue to do so. If this is what passes for “resilience, adaptability and commitment” right now, the industry’s in more trouble than we thought.