The move by accounting and consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers will affect 40,000 workers
The company said this is the first announcement of its kind from a professional services firm in the US, marking a shift away from the way companies approached work culture before the pandemic.
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.
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.
“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.
Prior to the pandemic, approximately 7,000 of the company’s business service group — its non-client service staff — were already working virtually, and had the option to go into any office for connectivity. Some employees, such as those who work in IT and workplace services, will need to be in-person, the company said.
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.
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.
“This is a once-in-a-generation change,” Tim Ryan, US chairman of PwC, told CNN Business.
CNN’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.
