At least 20 roles have been made redundant at M&C Saatchi Australia as the creative agency suffers the fallout from multiple recent account losses.

Mumbrella understands staff were told of the cuts on Tuesday and immediately went into meetings as the restructuring process began.

Mumbrella has been told by sources that a big proportion of Australian staff were impacted. A spokesperson indicated this was incorrect, and that around 20 roles had gone.

CEO Dani Bassil confirmed jobs were being cut.

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“Following recent client movements, we have made the difficult decision to reduce roles across our business,” she said in a statement.

“This is never an easy outcome, particularly given the talented people who have contributed so much to our agency, our culture, and our clients’ success. Our priority is to support those affected through this transition with care, respect, and access to appropriate assistance.”

“Given the sensitive nature of these developments and out of respect for our people, we will not be commenting on individual circumstances. Our focus remains on supporting affected employees, and maintaining continuity for our clients.”

The agency has suffered a string of account losses in the past two years, including Optus, Tourism Australia, Woolworths and Commbank.

Major changes at the agency were foreshadowed in the global group’s annual financial reporting, released in April, which stated that the Australian business would undergo “remedial action”.

The Australian arm has been a significant drag on the global organisation’s performance, to the extent that it was separated out in the financial reporting.

Australia’s revenue fell 31.9% in the 2025 calendar year, driven by the closure of its Bohemia media unit and the account losses.

The impact was material to the international business. Excluding Australia, group net revenue declined just 3.1%, compared with a 7.3% fall when the local business was included.

M&C Saatchi attributed the downturn to “prolonged tough macro challenges, client caution and reduced spend with consumer-facing clients, [and] client losses”.

Bassil was appointed CEO in August last year, succeeding Justin Graham. Since Graham’s departure, global CEO Zaid Al-Qassab has also left the business.