Why advertising & media’s work policy crisis isn’t about flexibility

For an industry built on creativity and cultural relevance, Advertising & Media has always had a complicated relationship with 'work.' Long hours were worn as a badge of honour. Burnout was rarely named - just normalised.

Then the world paused. And when offices reopened, many agencies rushed back to old models with new vocabulary. 'Hybrid' existed on paper, but not always in practice.

Here's what's becoming clear: the conversation is no longer about remote vs. office. It's about whether we're brave enough to redesign work without nostalgia for systems that no longer serve us.

The visibility trap

Before 2020, being 'seen' mattered disproportionately. The shift to remote work disrupted that equation. A 2023 Gartner report found that hybrid workers were 16% more productive and 35% less likely to quit. For an industry battling attrition, that's not a small signal.

Yet flexibility remains conditional in many A&M environments. Creative reviews drift back into physical rooms. Client calls stretch late. 'Flexible' workdays still reward constant availability.

The cost shows up in attrition patterns. According to the Aon India Salary & Turnover Study 2024, representation drops from 26% at junior levels to just 10% at CXO levels. The pipeline doesn't narrow gradually - it leaks most at mid-career, where hybrid ambiguity and burnout peak.

The manager is the policy

No work policy succeeds at the HR level. It succeeds - or collapses - at the manager level.

The Aon Voice of Women Report 2024 identifies a lack of supportive managers as the top factor influencing intent to leave. When flexibility becomes a favour rather than a right, trust erodes. When late-night work is normalised but recovery time isn't, hybrid becomes performative.

In my work with organisations at Turmeric Consulting, the pattern is clear: progressive policies at the centre, diluted by inconsistent managerial practice at the edges.

Why this shapes the work itself

Work policy doesn't just affect retention - it shapes creative output.

As content consumption expands into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, cultural nuance becomes critical. Yet women hold only 12% of leadership roles in Indian M&E (Ormax 2024), and only one in four consumers feels represented in advertising (Kantar 2024).

Homogeneous leadership creates blind spots. Work policies that quietly push out experienced talent don't just weaken teams - they narrow the lens through which stories are told.

The creative reckoning

Advertising teaches brands to evolve or risk irrelevance. The irony is hard to ignore.

Gen Z professionals, now inside agencies, don't romanticise hierarchy. They value autonomy, clarity, and trust - and disengage from performative systems. The same generation we're trying to reach as consumers is watching us as employers!

The future of work in A&M will be shaped by three choices:

• Clarity over control - Define what must be done together. Everything else is noise.
• Boundaries as a business imperative - Creativity cannot flourish in constant depletion.
• Trust as infrastructure - Not as a value statement, but as a daily operating system.

Work policy has become the industry's next creative brief - one demanding empathy, insight, and courage.

Because like any brand that fails to live its truth, the penalty won't be outrage. It will be indifferent. And that is far harder to recover from.

This article is penned byRoopa Badrinath, Founder & Principal Consultant, Turmeric Consulting and former CHRO of Wunderman Thompson.