Agency Spy (which has been acquired by Media Bistro) points to a Seattle Times story on Avenue A/Razorfish.
Employees at interactive advertising agency Avenue A | Razorfish had a couple of questions on their minds when they heard this spring that their parent company, aQuantive, was to be acquired by Microsoft:
Do we get to keep our Macs? And will we be getting the same benefits as Microsoft employees?
The Macs stayed.
But employees at the agency, headquartered in Seattle and with offices around the world, just found out that they’re not in line for the Microsoft benefits.
The Times reporter also spoke to a separate source about agency compensation, in general terms.
In general, entry-level compensation in the advertising industry “has really slipped behind other industries,” said Elizabeth Zea, partner at Gilbert and Company, a New York-based management consultancy and executive recruiting firm focused on marketing companies.
Starting salaries in the Teach For America program and the Internal Revenue Service — let alone consumer packaged goods, management consulting or investment banking — are higher than pay for average entry-level assistant account executives. Those jobs pay about $28,000 to $35,000 a year, Zea said.