A petition demanding that WPP revokes its new four-day office policy has attracted nearly 10,000 signatures in just four days, as backlash grows against the ad giant’s decision to mandate a higher level of attendance at its offices worldwide.

The Change.org petition, which claims to have been set up by a group of ‘concerned WPP employees’, calls on WPP chief executive Mark Read to reconsider the policy, branding it a “step backwards in supporting employee wellbeing and work-life balance”.

Last week, City AM revealed that the FTSE 100 ad holding group had demanded staff across the dozens of countries in which it operates to return to the office four days a week, including at least two Fridays every month.

In a company-wide memo, Read cited results from WPP’s employee engagement surveys and client expectations as being the core reasons behind the decision, writing: “The data from across WPP agencies shows that higher levels of office attendance are associated with stronger employee engagement, improved client survey scores and better financial performance.”

But the move has been met with fierce resistance by a vocal share of its more-than 100,000 staff across the globe, and the petition has attracted signatures at a rapid rate.

At the time of writing, over 9,030 people had signed it in under a week, with 1,127 people having put their name to it today alone, according to host site Change.org.

The page’s public nature means signatories aren’t necessarily restricted to WPP employees, but City AM has been able to verify several signatories, including some of those using the petition’s comments section as an arena to voice their displeasure.

“This decision reeks of corporate shortsightedness, where the comfort of shareholders is valued more than the needs of the very employees who drive the company’s success,” wrote one staffer who works at the WPP-owned media agency Mindshare. “It’s clear that the voices of us WPP employees are being ignored and sacrificed on the altar of outdated notions of workplace control and profit margins.”