One of the world's largest consulting and accounting firms plans to monitor the location of its employees to make sure they comply with stricter return-to-the-office orders.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said its UK-based offices will “place greater emphasis on face-to-face working” from next year, moving from requiring staff to come into the office at least two days a week to sitting at a desk at least three out of five days.
PwC sent an email to employees informing them that it would share location information every month. a spokesperson told Fox Business.
“The new policy has shifted the balance of our working week to working side by side with clients and colleagues,” said Laura Hinton, managing partner at PwC UK, adding: “Given our focus on client service, coaching and learning and development, we feel this is the right thing to do for our business and for our people.”
PwC is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG, and employs around 328,000 people worldwide, including around 26,000 in the UK.
The policy will come into effect in January and PwC says it will give staff time to “plan for these arrangements”.
PwC spokesperson He confirmed the new policy in a statement to The Washington Post.
“Our business is built on strong relationships, and those relationships are almost always easier to build and maintain face-to-face,” the company said in a memo to its UK-based employees.
“Being physically together allows us to provide a differentiated experience for our clients and create a positive learning and coaching environment that is key to their success.”
Asked what would happen if it was found that employees had evaded the obligation to return to the office, a PwC spokesman said: “We would first want to understand the reasons why.”
Deloitte does not have a mandatory return to office policy but it may vary depending on the team. KPMG allows employees to follow a hybrid model.
EY also began monitoring employee compliance with the return-to-office mandate, which required employees to come into the office at least two days a week, but half of the firm's employees failed to comply with the rule. According to the Financial Times.
As the pandemic subsides, a growing number of companies are asking employees to return to the office more frequently.
Last month, U.S. office visits reached 68.8% of August 2019 levels, down slightly from 72.2% in July. According to data analytics firm Placer.ai.
The national consultation rate in August last year reached 67.6%, a significant increase from 55.9% in the same month in 2022.
According to Placer.ai, only 39.1% of workers returned to the office in August 2021.
Miami, New York, Atlanta and Dallas performed better than the rest of the country, according to the latest data.
Office visit rates in New York and Miami reached 85% and 90%, respectively, while Atlanta saw 75.6% of its employees return in August.
