While discussions around the “future of work” sometimes focus on virtual work, return-to-office policies and other areas affected by the pandemic, the phrase has grown to encompass the technology we use, the way companies structure their business and much more. 

In 2024, AI further transformed the marketing services business, many brands walked back their commitments to DEI and companies continued to tinker with their return-to-office policies. What might 2025 hold? Here are four areas executives and recruiters believe will shape the future of work for brands and agencies in the year ahead. 

AI and tech will be hotter than ever

AI and other emerging technologies are revolutionizing the way marketers work—and experts don’t anticipate any slowdown in the year ahead. In fact, some executives believe more brands will embrace AI in 2025, now that brands such as Coca-Cola have publicly blessed related tools.

“People that were on the sidelines are starting [to dive in] now,” said Jason Zada, founder at Secret Level, one of the AI studios behind Coca-Cola’s AI-produced holiday commercials. 

As marketing budgets decline, brands will look to be more “economical” with how they make content, leading to increased use of AI, Zada said. For production companies and agencies, that might mean fewer days on shoots and more time spent on post-production. 

AI will continue to have an impact on hiring and staffing in the industry, too. As agencies’ businesses become more automated, brands will place a higher premium on strategy executives and those capable of translating massive amounts of data, according to a study released in November by the World Federation of Advertisers and MediaSense.

That study also found that, driven by factors including AI and automation, three out of four multinational brands are looking to change their agency remuneration model in the next three years.

Also read: How strategist jobs are evolving and which roles are open

There’s an opportunity for people with the skills to manage the tech revolution coming to the industry. That demand is leading to an uptick in creative technologist roles, which are responsible for using new technologies, including AI, in the creative process. 

AI is “already paving the way for new roles, though it’s still early to define exactly what they will look like,” said Justin Billingsley, chief growth officer at Monks, adding that roles centered on repetitive or manual tasks may evolve. “What we do know is that technical fluency and the ability to collaborate closely with technology partners will be crucial.”

Some executives are also touting a resurgence of blockchain technology in 2025. “Blockchain will play a foundational role,” he said, “in enabling breakthroughs in media impression attribution, rights management, and transparent glass-box media strategies.”

Expect massive layoffs ... and a flurry of hiring 

Job cuts are an unfortunate staple of the advertising business, especially for agencies, which often have to deal with impromptu changes to client accounts. Goodby Silverstein & Partners, for example, recently laid off less than 5% of its staff after losing some of its longstanding Comcast Corp. account. 

Omnicom Group’s proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., expected to close in the second half of 2025, is likely to result in a vast amount of layoffs. The combined company expects to generate $750 million in annual cost synergies because of the all-stock deal. Omnicom and IPG said the new company would have over 100,000 employees—a figure worth noting given the two agency groups jointly employed 133,300 people worldwide as of year-end 2023, according to annual filings.

IPG laid off 103 Mediabrands employees effective Jan. 2, according to a WARN notice it filed in the state of California weeks before its deal with Omnicom was announced.

While there will be more layoffs in 2025, some experts also anticipate a flurry of hiring in the first quarter, driven by new business reviews wrapping and post-election stability. (U.S. ad employment scored a new all-time high in January 2024).

“People are more comfortable spending again,” Serena Wolf, industry headhunter and founder of recruiting firm Wolf Creative Co. 

But the conservative groundswell against DEI is also affecting how agencies hire talent, according to Wolf, who said shops are no longer as focused on hiring female leadership and diverse executives. “I don’t think people are concerned about optics anymore,” said Wolf, who noted that some DEI roles at agencies are now labeled as “inclusive.”

Employers will get tougher on return to office—with some 4 day a week requirements

It’s been more than four years since the onset of the pandemic, and agencies are still trying to figure out how to navigate RTO policies. Some holding companies drew a hard line in 2024, including Publicis Groupe, which laid off media staffers due to RTO non-compliance. 

“We have been clear and consistent about our policy that employees work from the office at least three days a week—an expectation that is being met and exceeded by the majority of our talent,” a Publicis Media spokeswoman told Ad Age in October. 

RTO is hard to predict, as it varies heavily based upon the company, according to multiple recruiters interviewed by Ad Age. But some recruiters believe that larger, public companies—many of which now require employees to come in three days a week—will move to a four-days-per-week in-office policy, with specific days required. 

“Employers, by and large, feel like they have the upper hand,” said Sasha Martens, president of industry headhunting firm Sasha the Mensch. “I think there might be more hard and fast terms” on RTO policies in 2025. 

Some executives believe that flexible policies, in which employees can choose which days they come into the office, can cause issues, according to Martens.

“Sometimes the feedback I hear is that, ‘Well, not everybody’s there at the same time, or it's still hard to coordinate,’” he said. “But a lot of that comes down to the efficiency and structure of an organization.”

Agencies may also shift their policies in response to client changes, Martens added. Amazon, for example, recently required employees to return to working at company offices five days per week, strengthening a prior three-day mandate. 

Gen Z experts and creators will be in demand and marketers will pursue Gen Alpha

Brands continue to obsess over reaching Gen Zers, or those born between 1997 and 2012, whose spending power is expected to reach $12 trillion by 2030. And, slowly but surely, marketers are planning for the next generation of customers—Gen Alpha, the group born beginning in 2010. (The various organizations that classify Gen Z often have a two-year overlap with Alphas between 2010 and 2012.) 

Gen Alpha is emerging as more brand-aware and brand-savvy than previous generations, driven in part by the cohort’s early access to the internet, Ad Age previously reported. An annual report of “Coolest Brands for Kids & Teens” in the U.S. from Beano Brain, a consumer insights consultancy, saw the number of brands on the list double to 100 in 2023 from 50 in 2022. 

Also read: Marketing to Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennials consumers

Agencies are making changes to keep up with younger consumers, too, by hiring experts to target the demo. In 2024, Day One Agency launched D1ACreator Studio, a diverse roster of creators the agency works with to bring “creator-first ideas to life.” Day One plans to further invest in the studio in 2025. 

“Creators are everything when it comes to reaching the next generations,” said Josh Rosenberg, CEO of Day One. “The personality economy has really flourished over the last 12 months as the algorithm continues to disintermediate the media landscape, serving niche audiences the stories that resonate with their interests.”

Agencies will shrink office space by co-sharing ... while offshoring and expanding globally

Indie shops including Preacher and Joan Creative expanded outside of the U.S. in 2024, planting flags in Amsterdam and Berlin, respectively. Some recruiters believe agencies will continue to establish presences in international regions, which is now easier to do given advances in technology. 

“If there’s gonna be a focus, it would be specifically Saudi Arabia, because there seems to be a lot of marketing dollars there,” said Martens. “There's a lot of money there to promote the country.” (Translation is working to launch its first international office, which will be in the Middle East, according to Founder Steve Stoute.)

Other experts predict that agencies will shrink their office spaces, focusing more on locations that force collaboration. “You’re going to see more and more ad agencies reimagine their space,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of brand and marketing consulting firm Metaforce.

Some agencies might also pivot to co-sharing offices with other companies.

“The challenge with agencies is people get very much in their bubble,” Adamson said. Employers are asking, “‘Can you get them out of their bubble by exposing them to different types of people?’” 

Adamson also believes agencies will increasingly offshore work as they try to maintain profitability. As AI takes on responsibilities traditionally handled by junior staffers—once a key source of margin leverage—shops will look to offshore work to lower costs, similar to how brands operate, he said.