R/GA is launching The Associates, a program for the agency’s alumni that invites them to work at the agency for a minimum of 20 weeks a year.

The Associates program is a type of fractional hiring, in which an employee is hired for a period of time, but without the constraints of project-based work, like freelance, or the permanence of part-time work.

The program was created in response to the rise in project-based client requests as a way to better manage skills, financial impact and headcount, according to Tiffany Rolfe, R/GA’s global chief creative officer. She also cited the rise in flexible work culture as people adopt—or are forced to adopt—freelance lifestyles. 

“There was a need for a model for a workforce that gives more flexibility to employees, that also gives flexibility to our clients, so we can adapt to the changing needs that they have,” Rolfe said.

The Associates debuts months after R/GA laid off an estimated 15% to 20% of its U.S. employees. This was at least the sixth round of layoffs in the last three years for the Interpublic Group of Cos. shop. Last week, IPG announced that the holding company’s total headcount decreased by 1.2% through the first half of the year. 

The program’s name came from the agency’s name—the A in R/GA stands for associates. (The R and G come from the names of brothers Richard and Robert Greenberg, who founded R/Greenberg Associates.)

‘Clients want consistency on their business’

R/GA said that through the program it will gain access to a diverse talent pool across disciplines that is familiar with the agency and its clients without having to worry about the expense or hassle of onboarding full-time employees. 

“There's challenges with onboarding employees into new projects, which might take a little while to get them accustomed to it, and clients want consistency on their business,” Rolfe said. “But it gives stability to employees.”

Employees in the program will have access to the agency’s office space, hardware such as computers, and the same software technology as full-time employees. Rolfe also touts the program as a way to offer access to workplace culture, agency events and learning and development opportunities. 

Associates are eligible for the same type of benefits as full-time employees including health, dental, vision, supplemental life, short-term disability, long-term disability and retirement savings, according to the agency.

Similar to freelance employees, Associates will sign NDAs and have non-compete clauses in their contracts for certain R/GA clients, and they can float among different accounts.

Associates are paid based on the work they do (hourly or weekly, part-time) and at the end of year are compensated for any unused time. Specific salaries were not disclosed.

The Associates initially launched in June and now has 10 people participants. The agency is opening several more roles in the coming months, and Rolfe expects Associates to grow further into 2024 as client needs dictate. 

While The Associates is an R/GA-only pilot program at the moment, Rolfe sees applications for parent Interpublic Group of Cos. and the industry at large in the future as client needs change.

“We don't think this is something that should just be an R/GA thing,” she said. “We actually think this is an approach that the whole industry needs.”

Franctional is the new freelance

These fractional employment terms are just another way for a company to say freelancer, and might not be beneficial to employee or employer in the long term, according to Sasha Martens, president of industry recruiting firm Sasha the Mensch Inc. 

“In the U.S., sometimes we lay people off and ultimately that’s a short-term decision that’s not beneficial for the company or the person because a lot of institutional knowledge gets lost having to rehire and retrain somebody else,” Martens said. 

Martens cites Germany’s Kurzarbeit policy as a more beneficial tact to take. The policy, which Germany implemented during the 2008 financial crisis and the early stages of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, is a social insurance program that has employers reduce their employees’ working hours instead of laying them off. The policy was one of the main reasons Germany was the only G7 economy to avoid a rise in joblessness in 2009.   

Martens believes policies that favor fractional employees could “open the door” for having fewer full-time employees. “There does seem to be a driving interest to lower full-time headcount in most corporations to offer fewer benefits,” he said.