Professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has extended its working-from-home policy for the majority of its workforce, following guidelines set by the UK government.
PWC reopened its 24 offices to staff in July 2020 following the UK's initial national lockdown, offering staff the opportunity to take up a flexible remote-working policy whereby they could work in the office between one and five times a week if they chose to do so. Half of the organisation's 22,600-strong workforce took up this option and worked in the office on a part-time basis.
Following prime minister Boris Johnson's annoucement on 22 September that employees should work from home where possible due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus), the organisation has asked all of its employees to work from home for the forseable future. Staff may only continue to work in the office if they are unable to work from home, or if they have external client meetings.
Kevin Ellis, chairman and senior partner at PWC UK, said: “We have seen benefits for our people, clients, suppliers and communities of using our offices in recent weeks and they will continue to play an important role - but only when appropriate to do so. Safety and wellbeing are paramount, and we will follow the government’s new guidance. This means the majority of our people will now be working from home, unless there is a clear personal or business need to be in the office.
"There are aspects of our work, including audit, that require gathering of evidence and judgements that will, on occasions, require face-to-face discussion and on-site activities, to preserve decision making and quality. Now, more than ever, flexibility is critical in how we support our people and clients.”
