According to 16 ad professionals who spoke to Business Insider, workloads have increased during the pandemic, leading some to burn out and leave the industry altogether.

According to Business Insider: “Some agency employees said clients expect quicker response times and tighter turnarounds on deadlines, requiring them to work longer hours. They said agency leaders don’t push back for fear of losing business in an already tough business climate.

“Layoffs — which have affected major advertising companies WPP, Omnicom Group, IPG, MDC Partners, Publicis Groupe, and Dentsu, among others — also increased people’s workloads and caused some to fear that they’ll lose their jobs if they take vacation or don’t put in the extra hours.”

The Business Insider report also notes that  The Martin Agency in Richmond has been enacting company-wide vacations.

“People didn’t take a lot of time because they couldn’t go anywhere,” The Martin Agency chief culture officer Carmina Ortiz Drummond said. “So the mentality this year is making sure people are taking off. We found agency-wide time off to work, so we did, for example, a four-day weekend for spring break.”

More here.