According to a CNN report, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an accounting and consulting giant has introduced a new policy to allow all its 40,000 U.S. client services employees to work from home/ anywhere for a lifetime.
Speaking to Reuters, PwC’s deputy people leader Yolanda Seals-Coffield said the firm was the first in its industry to make full-time virtual work available to client services employees. As per update, the firm’s support staff and employees in areas such as human resources and legal operations that do not face clients directly have the option to work virtually full-time.
PwC is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, which are known for their strenuous workloads. The company has 55,000 US employees. Friday’s announcement applies only to those who work with clients, such as auditors, consultants, and tax professionals. Other workers, such as workplace services teams and IT professionals, have to be in the office.
Giving further details, Seals-Coffield said that PwC employees who choose to work virtually will have to come to office a maximum of three days a month for in-person appointments such as critical team meetings, client visits and learning sessions.
The company went to a hybrid work model in March, with some employees working remotely and other working up to three days a week in the office. It opened all its US offices in September with limited capacity.
PwC said to Reuters that it opted to change its policy to better retain talent and recruit a diverse workforce. Employees who choose to work virtually in low-cost locations might face a pay cut.
Employees have two weeks from October 1 to let their managers know if they want to transition into a virtual role, though they can modify that as time goes on.
However, PwC said the partners at the firm whose team members choose to be in the office regularly will not be allowed to work completely remotely.
“We are unveiling these enhancements to our people experience to respond to what their needs are in this changing work environment, to continue to put flexibility and well-being benefits at the center, and expand the pool of people we attract and recruit to achieve our aggressive hiring goals and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion aspirations,” PwC said in a statement.
A recent PwC survey found 65% of all US employees are looking for a new job, and 88% of executives said they are seeing higher turnover than normal. The most cited reasons for job-hunting included wages, benefits, career advancement, and flexibility, according to the survey.
Notably, Alphabet Inc’s Google also determined the employees’ pay based on their location with those who work from home permanently potentially earning less.
