• by Sarah Mahoney , 4 hours ago

The knives are out again in marketing. Agencies are lopping off staff right before the holidays (Merry Christmas to you too, Omnicom), and corporate teams at Verizon, Intel, Amazon, Starbucks and Meta aren’t faring much better. Cuts are climbing back toward recession levels—the sharpest since 2020—and AI is accelerating the bloodletting.

Forrester says agencies will shrink by another 15% in 2026. Add in CEOs bragging they can “make twice as much with half the people,” and you get a workforce living with a steady hum of dread. According to new research from Harvard Business School, one group is getting hit hardest: Across all levels, industries and titles, middle managers feel the least psychologically safe at work.

“This always happens when marketing gets to an inflection point,” said Jim Lecinski, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. “Younger people in lower-level jobs are more native to all digital changes. And the senior people have been up there in the crow’s nest. They’re not just better paid, they’re more ready for what’s coming.”

But this downturn feels different to many midcareer professionals who’ve lived through earlier contractions. “It’s been a few weeks, and I’ve reached out to a number of recruiters – including the ones my HR people suggested – and got nothing but radio silence,” says one Los Angeles creative, recently let go from a midsize agency. He’s turned on the “Open to Work” feature on his LinkedIn account and sent resumes to previous contacts – nothing but crickets so far.

He's retooling his portfolio, beefing up illustrator skills and spending time with his toddler, the creative tells Marketing Daily. But he’s also thinking hard about whether he wants to stay in an industry getting less human-friendly by the minute.

“Right now, unemployed mid-level marketers are feeling the weight of reinvention — not because they lack talent and experience, but because the path forward feels unclear and isolating,” says Marni Gordon, an ad veteran who writes Marni’s Midlife Marketers, a bimonthly newsletter. “Many are realizing they haven’t maintained their networks the way they wish they had, making the job search even lonelier. And the search itself has become tougher: employers are chasing ‘unicorn’ candidates, hiring processes drag on for months, and ghosting after six or more interviews has become disturbingly common.”

Lecinski tells Marketing Daily that while AI may make this layoff cycle feel new, the same checklist applies:

Stabilize yourself first. Work on getting more sleep, more exercise, a few healthy meals – and letting go of the inevitable anger. “This is Step Zero,” he says. “If you’re still waking up at 2 a.m. with acid in your stomach and staring at the ceiling, you’re no good to anyone yet – not yourself, not your family.”

Get specific about your ‘mad lib’ job. Decide – at least for now – which function, industry, company stage and geography you want to work in. “When you define your bull’s-eye, like, ‘I’m looking for a primary marketing role at a late-stage startup in med tech in the Northeast, preferably in the Boston area,’ your contacts can help you better. ‘I need a marketing job’ means nothing. But that gets people thinking, ‘OK, who do I know that might be hiring in Boston?’”

Upskill deliberately. He suggests focusing on three areas: domain knowledge and technical expertise – including AI certification courses at places like HubSpot – mid-level executive function or executive decision making, and executive presence. “In this environment, interviewers will absolutely test applicants about their ability to make tough decisions under pressure without complete information, to make high level presentations, to confidently steer an all-hands meeting.”

Rebuild your board of directors. Select three or four people you can be completely open with. “We all need people, whether it’s a mentor or former colleagues, where the mask can be off, and who will be 100% in our corner.” Can’t think of who that might be? “Well, then, that’s Job No. 1.”

Consider portfolio careers — but don’t kid yourself. “More marketers over 40 are redefining what ‘the next chapter’ even means — choosing paths shaped by freedom, flexibility, impact, and alignment rather than simply riding out the rest of their career,” says Marni Gordon in an email to Marketing Daily. “Such portfolios often blend consulting, teaching, side projects, volunteering and pro bono work.” These careers are hard to pull together, often pay poorly and thrust people out into the health-insurance wilderness.

But more than anything, she says, out-of-work people are looking to build connections well beyond their past employer. “Midlife marketers want a more meaningful career and to reconnect with their community, supporting one another, sharing leads, and rebuilding networks in ways that make the journey forward feel less overwhelming and far more hopeful.”

For now, that mid-level L.A. creative is hopeful, even as he faces the steep cost of Southern California living. “Maybe this is a dying industry, but I don’t really believe that. There will always be a need for advertising. It may not be what it has been traditionally, but it’s a matter of adaptability,” he says. “I’m still optimistic.”