• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 14, 2019

Well, I guess this was to be expected.

Interpublic Group will be eliminating more than 200 positions in its Birmingham, Michigan, office in the wake of last month’s announcement that Fiat Chrysler is shifting its media business to Publicis Groupe’s Starcom.

UM and Reprise were the incumbents.

No one has been laid off yet as the target date set for the job cuts isn’t until early March, per the so-called Department of Labor “WARN” notices filed Jan. 9.

And there’s a bit more good news. The company is trying to find other positions within the Mediabrands network to place affected staffers.

Thus, the net number of people leaving the firm could be less than the positions eliminated, due to the account loss. It’s too early in the process to know how many staffers might be placed elsewhere by the company.

Here’s the company’s statement: “In compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), we have filed the required documentation regarding potential layoffs at our Birmingham office in connection with the loss of the Fiat Chrysler account.  

"We are working to find positions for these employees at other agencies within our network and remain committed to an increased footprint in downtown Detroit. We continue to serve a number of key clients out of our Detroit locations.”