Japanese advertising firm Dentsu to cut 3,400 jobs across international operations

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Group has announced that it will eliminate approximately 3,400 positions across its international operations, representing 8% of its overseas workforce. The job cuts form part of a comprehensive restructuring initiative and comes in the wake of the company posting significant goodwill impairment losses and suspending its interim dividend payments.

The Japanese advertising company said on Thursday “that it booked a net loss of 79.9 billion yen, equivalent to $541.9 million, for the three months ended June." The restructuring will primarily affect corporate and back-office functions across Dentsu's global offices outside Japan.

According to the earnings documents, "H1 25 organic growth was -0.2%, which was slightly below our expectations, due to the continuing challenging conditions in all three regions of our International business, although Japan continued to perform well."

During its latest earnings report, the company acknowledged challenging global conditions. "The company reported a 0.2% year-on-year decline in organic revenue during the first half of 2025. Its Japan region was the only strong performer, generating organic revenue growth of 5.3% during the first half of the year," according to the financial statements.

Hiroshi Igarashi, Dentsu's president and global CEO, stated, "Our Japan business achieved record-high net revenue and underlying operating profit, marking sustained growth for the ninth quarter in a row. However, our international business continues to face negative growth across all regions, resulting in a challenging overall performance."