Hello, welcome back to Inc.’s 1 Smart Business Story, and I hope you’re enjoying your Christmas. We’re counting down the best stories we produced this year, and this piece from the experienced communications exec Meredith Klein (author of the Meredith and the Media Substack) not only speaks perfectly to the moment but it’s a wonderful bookend to yesterday’s story about how Hiring is Broken. 

Watching all the layoffs happening in 2025, from Target to Omnicom, Klein captures how these moves are creating opportunity for those who’ve been cast out of their big corporate jobs to turn their expertise into being a new kind of independent consultant. At the same time, this massive influx of talent is giving small businesses incredibly resources and leverage to compete against the giants. Read on to learn:  

If you’re a new member of the new consultant C-suite, know one, or are a business relying on these independent experts to gain a strategic advantage, shoot me an email at [email protected] as I’d love to hear your story.  

Layoffs have sent an elite pool of talent into the consulting world, creating plenty of opportunities for businesses and consultants.

BY MEREDITH KLEIN

Whether you’re just entering the job market at 22 or re-entering at 62, there’s no doubt that this is one of the worst times to find a job.

In a troubling economy rife with layoffs—and an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent—employees are leaving the corporate grind in droves—some voluntarily, some not so much. 

In October, Target slashed 1,800 jobs under newly appointed CEO Michael Fiddelke. In November, Verizon laid off more than 13,000 employees—the largest single layoff in the company’s history. And most recently, Omnicom laid off 4,000-plus employees, following the completion of its acquisition of the Interpublic Group (IPG).

Paul Wolfe, a seasoned HR executive who spent over two decades in the industry working for brands like Indeed.com, Match.com, and Condé Nast, has seen his share of layoffs in the industry. “Companies often time layoffs for Q4 because they’re trying to clean up the balance sheet before a new year or a new strategy,” Wolfe told me.

You spent 25 years with the same firm? Doesn’t matter. Many agree this market is not normal. We are truly in unprecedented times.

So what happens next? 

Some point to the juxtaposition of the blue-collar work they may have to take on—having a Master’s to make matchas or utilizing their engineering degree to drive Lyfts. Others defend and encourage the minimum-wage work, doing what they need to do to get by. Many have written heart-wrenching posts on LinkedIn, with last-resort, urgent requests for help.

But what if there’s a better use of your time and talent? 

Hey, listen, I get it. The word “consultant” can be a little nebulous. Some consultants might have even recommended the “restructuring” that ultimately laid you off. 

But I’m here to tell you that consulting is getting a lot more interesting. Consultants are now infused with the elite talent who once graced the corporate hallways of major brands and agencies. 

If you’re lucky, one will grace your team’s decks and campaigns with the same guidance that doubled the bottom line of a Fortune 100 company.

As an author and board member for Payscale, HR veteran Wolfe told me, “We’re in a Great Reassessment, where a lot of talented people are deciding they’d rather design work on their own terms. For some, consulting after a layoff isn’t a fallback—it’s a conscious choice to protect their health, their families, and their sense of purpose.”

“For many years, there was a social contract between employees and the companies they served,” said Theresa Fuchs-Santiago, executive coach and founder of the Courage Space. “Somewhere along the way, people became line items, and consulting has become the way to reclaim the agency and safety that corporate can no longer promise.” 

The independent consultant boom is happening.

The news of Omnicom evaporating roles once the merger was finalized lit the internet on fire, with former employees, advertising reporters, and industry experts weighing in.

One of my favorite posts was from Adam Ritchie, principal at Adam Ritchie Brand Direction, who wrote on LinkedIn, “Today’s Omnicom story was really ‘Omnicom creates 4,000 direct competitors’ because a good deal of those affected will now go indie and never put their fates in the hands of a single large employer again. When a supernova explodes, new stars are born.”

Mic drop, sir.

And he’s right. First-string quarterbacks are being let go and are hovering over a handful of leadership jobs available. Fed up with eight rounds of interviews and mind-numbing leadership assessment tests, they’re starting their own squad.

Gab Ferree, former VP of Global Communications at Bumble, is one of many comms leaders no longer playing the corporate game. “I refuse to put my financial future in the hands of a corporation again. Massive layoffs are now business as usual, meaning the whims of board members directly impact my ability to support my family and provide healthcare. I’ve decided to no longer participate in that ecosystem.” 

Today, Ferree runs Off the Record, and is focused on arming other communications leaders with the strategic skills to survive budget cuts. “I want to protect as many communications professionals as I can from layoffs by making them more strategic and better tied to business value. In my community, we focus on making comms leaders indispensable by speaking the C-suite’s language and proving our impact on the bottom line.”

Robyn Jackson Malone, CEO & Founder of RJ Communications and former agency executive at Zeno Group and Citizen Relations said, “When I started my agency five years ago, it wasn’t under the backdrop of huge agency mergers and layoffs like we’re experiencing now. But today, we consistently find ourselves competing with the big agencies. That’s not something I could’ve said five years ago. I think it’s one part big agency bloat and bureaucracy fatigue, and one part day-to-day access to seasoned, senior-level advisors that we offer.”

With the chords cut and the rules no longer applying, top-tier talent now running their own shops have complete autonomy in who they want to work with, both brand-wise and people-wise, and are creating behind-the-scenes power networks to scale and grow their businesses quickly.

“We call our model ‘anchored but borderless,’” said Malone. Particularly with the back-to-office mandates, the big guys are limiting their talent pool based on geography—that isn’t a limitation we have, so we get to choose the specific talent and subject matter experts who are best able to address our partners’ needs, irrespective of geography.”

And while there are great referral and networking sites like Mixing Board, powered by Axios, Meetup, and CommsConsultants.com, industry vets are getting scrappy, doing simple calls for consultants on their LinkedIn. 

Lindsay Lapchuk, head of GTM and Communications at Notebook Agency, wrote a LinkedIn post asking for folks to be part of the agency’s go-to referral roster.

“The RFP is dying. There’s less patience for red tape, slow processes, and unnecessary overhead. People want to move quickly, get a trusted introduction, and just go. We’re seeing a real surge in demand right now for strong comms and PR talent. Our clients know our work, and they know our bar is high, so they trust us to help them find the right people,” said Lapchuk. 

Lapchuk’s post attracted 50 freelancers and small shops into the network within 24 hours. “The talent pool out there right now is unlike anything I’ve seen in my career. What’s noticeable about the freelancers and small teams is how fast they’re moving. They’re experimenting and learning, and using AI to build stuff. And honestly, they’re outpacing the big agencies.”

Recruiters are seeing the same thing. “There are very talented communications professionals who have stepped into consulting this year,” said Brooke Kruger, founder and CEO of top communications search firm, KC Partners. “These are senior leaders who have run global teams, handled real crisis moments, and know how to build a narrative from the inside. Their move into independent work says a lot about where the industry is headed. Companies want seasoned counsel without the overhead, and senior talent wants more control over how they work,” she shared.

AI might be the word du jour when it comes to the future of work, with a Pew Research Center survey citing 52 percent of U.S. workers were worried about AI’s potential role in the workplace. But for consultants, AI is their account executive grinding out write-ups and reports in milliseconds, allowing them to run and operate at the speed of business.

Amanda Coffee, former Under Armour and PayPal executive, uses AI to scale her PR consultancy, Coffee Communications. “As a solo practitioner, I’ve been able to scale my work because AI steps in as a designer, data scientist, video editor, and copywriter when I need it. When I host an event, I can turn the panel recording into an article in one sitting, and I can use CapCut’s AI tools to produce social-ready videos without slowing down. It makes my time more billable because I can deliver the in-person event and the full content package in the same window of time. It all adds up, and it’s changed how much I can take on as one person.”

Consultants, especially those that have been around the proverbial corporate block, are savvy when it comes to building a business. The same business plan they wrote for the brand they worked for? They are now writing for themselves. From services offered to their monetization and marketing models, these former corporate bigwigs know exactly what it takes to run a business, and now, have the runway to run their own.

Former PR executive for Tinder, Reebok, and Ford Motor Company, Dan Mazei, believes the path to leadership and P&L management has always been stifled by politics, red tape, and other impediments. Now running his own brand marketing and communications shop, All Tangled Roots, Mazei sees the new era of doing business as more transparent. “We’re now in an unprecedented marketplace where battle-tested professionals can connect directly with leaders, negotiate their own terms, and plug immediately into the most critical of decisions. Everyone gets what they want, and the value exchange is much more transparent.”

Shawn Smith, founder and CEO of Shawn Smith Communications, operates a consultancy out of Los Angeles. The former Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. executive shared, “AI is a powerful support tool, but the real value we provide comes from creativity, experience, and judgment. The beauty of running my own agency is pairing the efficiency of AI with the strategic rigor I’ve built over years leading campaigns for global brands. It gives us the ability to be nimble and move with speed. Technology handles the tedious work, freeing me to focus on strategy, storytelling, and the insights that truly move a brand forward.”

And while the surviving corporate squad retains a steady paycheck every two weeks, they’re peering through the curtains watching the renegades—the group that is pursuing their passions and reclaiming their power. That’s a feeling no paycheck can provide.

So don’t look down your nose at a consultant. Look up to them. They are former VPs and presidents who ran the companies you rely on every day. They’re battle-tested and brave and have more experience and institutional knowledge than that AI bot giving you references from 2016.

In today’s corporate world, consultants are no longer the castaways, they’re the new C-Suite.

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