The 2020 recession will undermine CMOs’ capacity to rebound into growth. To help CMOs and US agency executives understand the gravity of the situation, Forrester has modelled the impact of the recession on agency headcount and growth. A dramatic decrease in marketing spend with agencies leads to thousands of US agency job losses. The recession will have an uneven impact across the different types of agencies, with advertising agencies taking the brunt of cuts. CMOs will need to adjust to fewer and smaller agency resources.