Accounting firm KPMG is to offer its UK employees the option to work from the office on a ‘four-day fortnight’ rotation, as a part of a new hybrid working model coming into force post-Covid-19 (Coronavirus).
The deal, starting in June, gives staff the opportunity to spend up to four days of their choice in any given fortnight at their offices, with the remaining time spent working at home if they want to.
In an email to the workforce, spokeswoman Zoe Sheppard said: “As part of the firm’s new hybrid way of working, from June onwards, the expectation will be that KPMG’s people spend up to four days in the office spread over a fortnight, with the rest spent at home or at client sites.”
According to Reuters, this new hybrid model was drawn up specifically after consulting with employees directly.
The intention is that staff will come to their nearest KPMG office to attend meetings or for training that needs to be held in person, but they will not have to stay for the whole day if they don’t want to or need to.
Commenting on the announcement, Jon Holt, chief executive at KPMG UK, said:? “We trust our people. Our new way of working will empower them and enable them to design their own working week. The pandemic has proven it’s not about where you work, but how you work.”
He added: “We have listened to our people and designed this strategy around our staff and how they can best support our clients.”
According to KPMG’s own research among staff in March, 87% of respondents said they preferred no longer having to commute, while 76% said they enjoyed the greater flexibility that working from home offered. A further 65% said?they now had a better work-life balance.
Holt added:?"Our offices will become a place people go to collaborate?and learn. The consequence of the pandemic means we?have a whole?cohort?of people who have never been in the office?and?never been coached face-to-face. We need to get those connections back."
He said: "Our new?strategy for the future of work?will enable?our people to?reconnect and test our new ways of hybrid working. This is all about flexibility."
The announcement comes not long after Holt’s predecessor, Bill Michael, was forced to resign in February after telling staff to “stop moaning” about the impact Covid-19 was having on their lives.
Holt also revealed that employees will enjoy an extra two and a half hours off per week in the summer to "promote wellbeing" if they complete their normal 35 hours of work per week.
