The senior PR talent landscape has been in motion since 2022, and the patterns are clearer now than they were a year ago. The headline narrative — that senior comms talent is leaving holdcos for in-house roles — is partly true but oversimplified. The actual flows are more nuanced and reveal something about where the function is going.
The major flows
A scan of senior moves over the past 18 months reveals several recurring patterns.
Holdco senior talent to large independents. Senior practitioners leaving Edelman, Weber Shandwick (Interpublic, now Omnicom), Burson, and others have frequently moved to large independents — Allison Worldwide, Real Chemistry, ICR, 5W, Zeno, and similar. The independents offer some combination of equity participation, more direct senior-leader influence, and less corporate overhead than the holdco operating model. The flow has been substantial enough to affect leadership composition at several major independents.
Agency senior talent to in-house CCO roles. Mid-career and senior practitioners have moved into Chief Communications Officer roles at growing companies, particularly in technology, healthcare, and consumer brands. The in-house roles offer scope, equity (in some cases), and freedom from agency client management. Many of these moves involve practitioners who had been senior at agencies for 8-15 years and were ready for change.
In-house comms leaders into agency consulting roles. A counterflow worth noting: senior in-house leaders, particularly former CCOs or VPs of Communications, are increasingly consulting or building boutique practices that serve a small number of high-value clients. The model offers high autonomy, premium pricing, and selective engagement.
Career-changers into AI Communications specifically. A meaningful number of senior digital, SEO, and marketing technology practitioners have moved into AI Communications roles at agencies and in-house. The skill set transfers well; the practitioners are often more technically sophisticated than traditional PR backgrounds; and the practice area is hiring at premium rates.
Older mid-career practitioners **exiting**** the function.** Less visible but real: a meaningful number of mid-career practitioners — particularly those with 8-15 years of experience in traditional media relations roles — have left comms entirely for adjacent functions (marketing, business development) or different industries. The pattern reflects partly career stage, partly anxiety about AI's impact on traditional roles, and partly burnout from the post-2020 stress cycle.
What's pushing the moves
A few forces driving the patterns.
Compensation pressure. Agency compensation has been under pressure across multiple operating models, and senior practitioners with marketable skills have found higher pay outside of large agencies — at independents that have grown profitably, at in-house roles at companies with healthy budgets, or at consulting practices that capture more economics directly.
Scope expansion in in-house roles. The expanded definition of communications — discussed elsewhere in this archive — means in-house CCO roles cover more territory than they used to. The scope expansion is attractive to senior practitioners looking for bigger jobs.
AI uncertainty. The category is changing fast, and senior practitioners are making bets about which firms will be best positioned 5 years out. Some bets are toward in-house roles (more direct control over the brand's strategy), some toward specialist firms (positioned for the new capability areas), and some toward established independents (track record plus speed of adaptation).
Post-pandemic preference shifts. The remote/hybrid work flexibility that established during 2020-2022 remains a meaningful factor in retention. Firms with rigid return-to-office policies have lost talent to firms with more flexible arrangements, particularly for senior roles where the talent has options.
Generational handoff. The senior practitioners who built the modern PR industry through the 1990s and 2000s are reaching career transitions. Some retiring, some stepping back, some shifting to advisory roles. The handoff to the next generation of senior leadership is uneven across firms and is itself driving some of the visible movement.
Where the talent gaps are
A few specific areas where the supply-demand imbalance is visible.
AI Communications senior leaders. Practitioners with credible track records building and running AI/GEO practices are scarce relative to demand. Compensation premiums for these roles are noticeable.
Crisis communications senior counsel. Practitioners who have actually run multiple major crises and can serve as senior counsel under pressure are in high demand, particularly at agencies and at large enterprises.
Healthcare and life sciences specialists. The combination of regulatory complexity, FDA-FTC scrutiny, and ongoing pricing pressure on the category has created sustained demand for senior practitioners with substantive sector expertise.
B2B technology specialists with depth. As the technology category has matured, the demand for senior practitioners who actually understand the business side of enterprise software, AI infrastructure, and other technical categories has outpaced supply.
Public affairs senior counsel. Particularly senior practitioners with bipartisan credibility and substantive policy expertise, in a politically polarized environment.
What firms are doing about retention
A few approaches that have produced measurable retention improvements.
Equity participation in agency growth, where the agency structure permits. Several large independents have moved toward broader equity programs that include senior practitioners below the founding team.
Senior practice leader autonomy. Firms that give senior practice leaders genuine authority over their practices — hiring, pricing, business development, methodology — retain those leaders longer than firms with more centralized control.
Capability investment. Practitioners stay at firms that are visibly building toward where the function is going. Firms that have made credible AI Communications, digital, and integrated capability investments retain senior staff better than firms that have not.
Compensation transparency. Firms with clearer compensation frameworks have lower turnover than firms where compensation is heavily discretionary and feels arbitrary to staff.
What the trajectory suggests
The reshuffle is slowing modestly but not ending. The structural forces — agency model evolution, in-house scope expansion, AI uncertainty, generational transition — will continue producing senior movement through 2026 and into 2027. Firms and clients planning for this period should expect continued flux at senior levels and should not assume current senior leadership configurations are stable.
The talent winning in this period is generally the talent that has built credible capability in newer practice areas — AI Communications, integrated digital, sophisticated executive positioning — while maintaining the foundational craft skills (media relations, crisis response, strategic counsel) that the function has always required. The combination is rarer than either skill alone and is being repriced accordingly.
