“It’s a very lonely experience.” Arthur Sadoun, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, understands first-hand what living and working with cancer means to individuals. He was diagnosed in 2022. Publicis’ Working with Cancer initiative launched in January 2023.

Publicis’ Working with Cancer mission to help build open, supportive and recovery-forward work cultures for employees with cancer moves further forward each year. This year, using new research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic, Working With Cancer has developed a new AI-powered coach, designed to help employers translate these insights into personalised, practical support for employees living with cancer and a campaign by Publicis Conseil to encourage from companies to sign up and extend the benefits more employees.

Since launching at the World Economic Forum in Davos three years ago, Working With Cancer has grown into a global movement of more than 5,000 companies, protecting over 40 million workers worldwide. What began as a shared commitment by employers is now reinforced by new research underscoring the measurable impact that supportive workplace policies can have on employee health and quality of life.

A newly conducted review led by Dr Victoria Blinder, oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Dr Gina Mazza, Associate Professor of Biostatistics at Mayo Clinic, highlights evidence of a link between sustained employment, or return to work, after a cancer diagnosis and improved health-related quality of life. Dr Blinder adds that workplace conditions can play a role in shaping these outcomes, reinforcing the importance of flexibility, understanding, and appropriate accommodations during treatment and recovery.

The studies reviewed include data such as:

• Employed survivors report ~28% better overall quality of life (QOL) than non-employed at 5

years.

• Physical functioning remained ~29% higher in employed survivors at 5 years

• Employed participants in one study were approximately 3.7x less likely to report moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms, and 2.4x less likely to report moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms, than unemployed participants

Available to all companies that sign the Working With Cancer pledge, the coach enables organisations to communicate and adapt their health, benefits, and workplace policies to the individual needs of each employee. It is built on Large Language Models and designed to address pain points experienced by patients, managers, HR and benefits leads, and includes purpose-built safeguards, allowing companies to securely upload their own policies so employees receive guidance tailored to their actual situation. The AI system draws from curated, vetted resources from Working With Cancer’s expert partners, delivering accurate, transparent responses while avoiding the risks associated with open-internet health queries. A task-specific, multi-agent architecture supports cancer patients, managers, and colleagues with context-aware guidance, with strict boundaries that prevent medical diagnosis. Privacy and anonymity are foundational, with no data retained beyond each session.

Publicis is also launching a global campaign to encourage more companies to sign the pledge and help extend these benefits to more employees. Through a film created by Publicis Conseil and supported by up to US$100 million in pro bono media donated by partners including Disney, Google/ Youtube, Zeta Global, TikTok, NBCUniversal, Paramount, iHeartMedia, Westwood One, Clear Channel Outdoor, Captivate, Screenvision, and NCM, the campaign makes clear that employers are not peripheral to the cancer experience. They can be a meaningful part of recovery, dignity, and quality of life.

The campaign was directed by Kailee McGee, a stage IV cancer survivor and award-winning filmmaker. It features survivors from all walks of life – including CEOs, celebrities, and employees – sharing how working helped them maintain normalcy and control during treatment. Participants include survivors from Walmart, L’Oréal, Pfizer, Barclays, Accenture, and Carrefour, among others.

With photographs by Sandro Miller a renowned portrait photographer and a stage 4 cancer survivor, the campaign will appear in a Times Square out-of-home takeover on February 4, in recognition of World Cancer Day.

Behind the initiative:

In 2023, in a world where one in every two people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, the Publicis Foundation launched the first cross-industry coalition to erase the stigma of cancer in the workplace, supported by leading cancer charities and organisations including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Macmillan Cancer Support, Working With Cancer and the Gustave Roussy Institute.

In April 2022, Publicis CEO, Arthur Sadoun, was diagnosed and treated for cancer. After making his
condition public, he received thousands of testimonies that exposed the fear those with cancer
experienced, not only for their lives, but also for their jobs. Those messages reflected an unsettling reality that Working with Cancer aims to address: 50% of cancer patients are afraid to tell their employer about their diagnosis, despite 92% feeling that support at work positively impacts their health.

At Davos on January 17 2023, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, Working with
Cancer launched a pledge rallying some of the world’s most influential companies around the
commitment to building the most open, supportive and recovery-forward work cultures
for their employees. It invited every business, big and small, across the globe to join the movement at Workingwithcancerpledge.com. On this platform, each company is able to outline their own commitments to cancer patients in their organisations.

Publicis’ specific pledge includes providing cancer patients with full job security for at least one year,
and bringing the necessary career support not only for them, but also for caregivers.