Accounting business Deloitte will allow its 20,000 UK employees to choose how often they go into the office to work – if at all – after the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, in a bid to suport their work-life balance.
The company decided to offer its staff the ability to decide when, where and how they work, following the rise of remote working during the pandemic. They have been allowed to work flexibly since 2014, and the organisation will decrease the amount of office-based working required by employees once the final phase of lockdown restrictions are lifted.
This decision will mean reserving most of its office space for team collaboration, training and client meetings, although each team would have to ensure their flexible working arrangement suited both their clients and staff. Each business area will experience the new ways of working, adapting quickly to reflect what works best for clients and people, with feedback being used to help the firm shape hybrid working in the months and years ahead, according to Deloitte.
Deloitte chief executive Richard Houston commented that this is a “fantastic” opportunity for the business to embrace the benefits from the past 16 months of being able to spend more time at home, while allowing Deloitte staff to be flexible in the way they work and reconnect with their colleagues and the office as needed.
“We will let our people choose where they need to be to do their best work, in balance with their professional and personal responsibilities. I’m not going to announce any set number of days for people to be in the office or in specific locations. That means that our people can choose how often they come to the office, if they choose to do so at all, while focusing on how we can best serve our clients,” he said.