PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will track where its employees work in the UK, in a bid to improve its current working from home culture.
Employees at the UK arm of PwC, one of the world’s four largest accounting firms, were informed by management this week that the new policy would come into effect on January 1.
A memo sent to the company’s 26,000 British employees on Thursday and shared with CNN said the move is being taken to formalize the company’s “approach to face-to-face collaboration.”
Employees were told to be in the office or with clients at least three days a week — or 60% of their time. Previous guidance called for two to three days a week, but the memo suggests that wasn’t being universally followed.
It said: “Our business thrives on strong relationships – and those are almost always more easily built and maintained through face-to-face contact… By being physically together, we can provide a differentiated experience for our clients and create the positive learning and coaching environment that is key to our success.”
According to PwC, the measure is intended to adapt the company’s hybrid working methods and ‘put more emphasis on personal working’.
“We are all benefiting from the positive impact of a hybrid approach, but the previous guidance of at least two to three days per week was open to interpretation. This update is intended to provide clarity on where and how we expect everyone to work,” the memo said.
While many employees are already “spending more time in person with their customers and teams,” others “may need time to adjust to new work patterns,” the company told employees.
“With that in mind, starting in January, we will share your individual work location data with you on a monthly basis, as we do with other data such as billable hours. This will help ensure the new policy is applied fairly and consistently across our business,” it added.
In a press release Published online, Laura Hinton, managing partner at PwC UK, said: “Face-to-face working is hugely important to a people business like ours, and the new policy shifts the balance of our working week towards being with clients and colleagues. This feels right for our business and right for our people, given our focus on client service, coaching and learning and development, while continuing to offer flexibility through hybrid working.”
When CNN asked what would happen if someone did not fully comply with the rules, a PWC spokeswoman said, “If the monthly data shows that someone is consistently violating the policy, we first want to understand the reasons for that.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has revolutionized the workplace, with many companies around the world adopting a hybrid approach, allowing employees to combine their office work with their personal lives.
However, many companies are taking measures to encourage their staff to spend more time in the office.
Earlier this year, IBM told its American managers to work at least three days a week in the office or quit their jobs. Other companies that have taken similar steps include UPS, Amazon, Meta and even Zoom, which played a major role in the work-from-home revolution.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
