WPP's Enfatico slashes 8% of its workforce

Enfatico announced the redundancies on its blog, which links through to an internal memo circulated to staff by agency chief Torrence Boone.

Boone said that the decision is "a direct result of the global recession and the pressures affecting virtually all aspects of the economy, especially the technology sector".

Dell has slashed thousands of jobs and cut back its marketing efforts and Boone said that Enfatico must "in turn, streamline our business".

In the memo Boone offers words of encouragement to staff, calling for the agency to "focus on building a successful business on behalf of WPP's shareholders".

He said: "We have several new business pitches in the works, and we are hopeful to announce some positive news on this front soon."

IPG's The Martin Agency is also making redundancies due to client cutbacks. It is getting rid of 5% of its workforce, around 24 employees.

The cuts come as it emerges that Omnicom's DDB network is following the route of Enfatico by setting up a group around its new client Blockbuster.

DDB is understood to be pulling together a number of pre-existing groups to support the new venture, called DDB Entertainment, including Ant Farm, youth branding group Uproar and the agency's LA-based entertainment wing.