Just as employees were receiving a report of the hours of work (chargeable) at PwC, they will now receive a report with details of the locations at which they worked every month. Yes, PwC is serious about achieving a balance between hybrid working flexibility and in-person collaboration.
As per a Financial Times report, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the British multinational professional services firm, is imposing stricter guidelines for hybrid work in the UK. The employees are mandated to spend at least three days working from their own office every week or their client’s. Simply put, the firm is keen to see its employees spending 60 per cent of their working hours in office.
As part of this endeavour to promote in-person work, the company is determined to keep close track of its employees’ attendance. Every month, each employee will receive their working-location data, which will also be sent to their career coaches so that there is uniformity in terms of implementation across the firm.
As per the Guardian, employees will be expected to explain their absence if they happen to break the three-days-in-office-or-with-client rule.
Ever since the pandemic, the employees had been enjoying a lot of flexibility. They were expected to come in to work at least two to three days a week, a rule that was ambiguous. Now the three days of in-office work is clearly mandated and monitored, with the objective of encouraging more collaboration among teams and better bonding, which is hoped to result in better service to clients.
PwC is not the only one keen to see more employees returning to office. Since the start of 2024, EY, which is also one of the Big Four, has been tracking its employees’ attendance and movements using data obtained from their swipe card entry. This was to keep a track of the hours spent by employees physically in the office.
