Bates141 to reduce size and operations of its Beijing office

Currently there are about 40 employees at Bates 141 Beijing and the agency plans to retain only about a dozen of them after the restructuring. Bates said it would help employees find jobs within the WPP group, and give compensations according to relevant labour laws and regulations. A more detailed plan is expected to come out in the following two weeks.

So far several junior employees have already resigned, but those who have served at the agency for a longer period of time have chosen to wait for the agency's official announcement to decide their next moves.

The decision was made in mid-October. "Over the past several years, Bates 141 Beijing has not been delivering a good performance," acknowledges a senior manager, "That is why we have decided to reduce the size of our operations in Beijing."

He also said it is not clear at the moment what will happen to the current clients and businesses in Beijing. "We might move them to Shanghai, but that is still in discussion," he said.