PwC Enforces Stricter Presence Rules: New Guidelines for Office Attendance

The Big Four accounting firm PwC has informed its 26,000 employees in the UK that their office attendance will henceforth be monitored as strictly as their billable hours. This is part of the company's new, stricter hybrid work policy. In a memo sent to employees, which was obtained by the Financial Times, CEO Laura Hinton explained that starting in January, the company will begin to track employees’ work location data on a monthly basis and share it with them. Additionally, employees are now required to be in the office or at client sites at least three days a week. These data will also be forwarded to employees' career coaches at PwC, as confirmed by a person familiar with the details. The new policy takes effect in January. "We will share your individual work location data with you monthly starting in January, in a manner similar to how other data, such as your billable hours, are already shared," Hinton wrote in the memo. "This will help ensure that the new policy is applied fairly and consistently across our entire company." She added, "We all benefit from the positive impacts of a hybrid approach, but the previous policy of at least two to three days per week was open to interpretation." This decision marks one of the first company-wide policy changes since Marco Amitrano took on the role of Senior Partner in July. Many large employers in the UK are currently striving to increase office attendance after switching to hybrid work models during the pandemic. Competitor EY this year began monitoring its employees’ attendance using entry card data. The Big Four accounting and consulting firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC – also face a market downturn due to a more challenging economic environment. In July, PwC warned its employees to expect lower bonuses and salary increases. The company has also rolled back the privilege introduced during the pandemic of taking a half day off on Fridays. Amitrano’s predecessor, Kevin Ellis, repeatedly emphasized the importance of employees’ physical presence in the office or at client sites. The company stated that the new policy is designed to "formalize our approach to in-person collaboration." In the memo, Hinton wrote: "Our business thrives on strong relationships – and those are almost always more easily built and maintained in person. "By coming together physically, we can provide a differentiated experience for our clients and create the positive learning and coaching environment that is critical to our success," she added.