Another global giant is tightening up on working from home
- PwC is mandating UK staff to work in the office or with clients at least 3 days a week.
- More bosses are scrapping remote work policies and telling staff to return to the workplace.
- Some firms are analyzing turnstile access data to track employees.
Accounting giant PwC is the latest company to crack down on its hybrid work policy. The firm has introduced stricter measures requiring employees in the UK to work from the office more often.
PwC said it informed staff and partners on Thursday that they must spend at least three days in the office or with clients a week from January. Previously, workers were expected to go in two to three days.
The company reportedly wrote in a memo to its 26,000 employees in the UK that it will start tracking their working locations to ensure workers meet these requirements.
Across industries, more bosses have been scrapping remote work policies and telling staff to return to the workplace for a certain number of days a week.
In some cases, companies have even introduced punitive measures for employees who don't comply with RTO mandates, with some remote Dell workers being told they can't get promoted and other companies threatening to fire those who don't return.
Fellow Big Four firm EY started tracking staff attendance in the office earlier this year by analyzing turnstile access data.
Last year, Citigroup began collecting entrance card data to ensure workers went to the workplace for the required three days a week.
"Face-to-face working is hugely important to a people business like ours, and the new policy tips the balance of our working week into being located alongside clients and colleagues," PwC's UK managing partner Laura Hinton said in a statement Thursday.
She continued: "This feels right for our business and right for our people, given our focus on client service, coaching, and learning and development."