WPP Offer: Holidays & Vacation Days

chatbox

Just got an offer from WPP - proper excited, but I'm trying to figure out the finer details before I sign. Anyone here know what the company holidays look like for this year? My recruiter mentioned in passing that there are a fair few, but they're unavailable this weekend. Also, is 15 vacation days the standard starting point? I was really hoping for at least 20. I've been doing analytics implementation for a while and I know that negotiating vacation is often an one-shot deal - you're stuck with it for years otherwise. Someone in the thread suggested I push for more days upfront, and also try to get a performance review clause for a promo down the line. That's solid advice, but I'd love to know what others at WPP are actually seeing. 15 seems low when I've heard of people getting 5 weeks elsewhere. What's the norm across their agencies?

justauser

Negotiate more holiday days at the offer stage - it's much harder to get later. 😊

copycat

when I was weighing up an offer from WPP myself, the holiday schedule was one of the details that really caught my eye. they were upfront about the closures-none of that "we'll see" waffle. Here's what they listed for that year:

22 May
25 May
19 June
3 July
6 July
4 September
7 September
11 November
25-27 November
24-25 December
28-31 December

Honestly, having it laid out like that before signing felt rare. Most agencies just say "bank holidays + Christmas" and leave you guessing. Worth factoring in if you're comparing offers.

analyticsjunkie

ex-WPP here. They're stingy as hell with extra holiday. If you don't get it locked in on day one, you're waiting until your retirement party.

wordweaver

oh, the holidays are actually decent - you get the standard NYC lot, plus the agency shuts down from Christmas to New Year's, so that's a solid week you don't have to burn through your own PTO. They also threw in three floating holidays for whatever tickles your fancy. Not bad for a soulless media conglomerate

trendspotter

Better holiday schedule than Omnicom.

storyweaver

Yeah, gotta hand it to them - that's a pretty solid package for a US firm. The volunteering and voting hours are a nice touch too, even if the "wellness" days are probably just code for "we know you're burned out but we're not giving you more PTO." Still, 15 days starting out and creeping to 20 after five years? That's genuinely decent. Most US companies act like giving you a full week off is a favour. So yeah, this offer stands out for sure

bigcoffee

Negotiated 20% myself. Few things to keep in mind:

WPP rarely moves beyond that number - 20 seems to be their ceiling for most offers.
Push hard on base salary early. Benefits and bonuses are easier to flex later, but base is where the real leverage is.
If they won't budge on comp, try for a signing bonus or guaranteed first-year performance bonus instead. Seen that work more often than not.

Curious - what market / level? Makes a difference on how much room they actually have.

dailygrind

They've got a decent holiday setup. Four summer Fridays where you pick your day off. Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labour Day all turn into four-day weekends. Then a full week from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day. On top of the standard bank holidays.

Worked out about ten extra days beyond the usual package. Not bad for retention if you're looking at total comp from a cost-per-hire angle

metricsmuse

Was this for the associate media optimisation position, by any chance? Just curious - I've seen a few mentions of that one floating around.

pixelperfect

that sounds so refreshing. Working for myself means I pick my own holidays, but my last few contracts barely acknowledged bank holidays. Honestly, not complaining either-just nice to see somewhere that values time off.

tiktokguru

What level's the offer for? that'll help us give better advice 🙂

communityfirst

Honestly, if you're not getting unlimited PTO at this stage, it's a dub - especially at a major holding company. I recently started at Publicis and several colleagues who came from WPP weren't fans at all.

For context, I had an interview scheduled with WPP that they never officially cancelled - just never called. Then they sent an updated invite after the call was supposed to start. By that point I'd already accepted an offer from Publicis, and it took another day or two before the original recruiter reached back out asking when I was free for another chat. The person I was actually meant to speak with never tried to communicate, and they weren't even the same person I'd connected with on LinkedIn.

That whole experience left a bad taste about WPP's process. And I know this thread's about PTO, but those vacation dates are pretty much standard across all agencies anyway.

digitalnomad

Depends on your location and seniority

gmbpro

The fact that you got an offer when we are "supposed" to be on a hiring freeze is a gift.

splittester

Negotiate a higher salary. Don’t be an idiot.

tagmanager

That's shocking. I'm on 5 weeks myself, and honestly even that feels tight when you're running campaigns 24/7. can't imagine signing up for less. Hope you push back - you deserve better than that

roichaser

Also negotiate a performance review for promo

brandvoice

Oh, those four-day summer weekends.. absolutely weeping over here at Publicis. Honestly, it's hard not to feel a little envious when you hear about WPP's setup. but hey, at least we can all sympathise with each other's agency grind, right? Hope your team gets something similar soon - everyone deserves a proper summer break.

leadgen

Yeah, been there. One agency swapped holiday days for daily metaphorical beatings.