PwC to track employees' location data with push for office time

Starting in January, employees at PwC UK will be required to come to the office at least three days a week as the organisation puts more emphasis on in-person working.

PwC UK unveiled the adjustment to its hybrid working approach in a statement last 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," said Laura Hinton, Managing Partner at PwC UK, in a statement.

"This feels right for our business and right for our people, given our focus on client service, coaching, and learning and development. At the same time, we continue to offer flexibility through hybrid working."

Using working location data

Employees at PwC UK are currently allowed to spend two to three days in the office or with clients.

But a memo to the company's 26,000 employees and shared with CNN said the new hybrid approach in January aims to "provide clarity around where and how we expect everyone to work."

To enforce its implementation, PwC UK will be looking at employees' working location data, according to the CNN report.

"We will start sharing your individual working location data with you on a monthly basis from January as we do with other data such as chargeable hours," the memo read as quoted by the news outlet. "This will help to ensure that the new policy is being fairly and consistently applied across our business."

Employees who are non-compliant with the rule will be questioned about their reasons why, a PwC spokesperson told CNN.

PwC UK's approach to hybrid work is another example of measures implemented by major organisations across the world in order to bring employees back onsite after years of remote work during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced HR teams to adapt quickly to border closures and office shutdowns, making remote hiring a key part of most organizations' talent strategies. If you're looking for a tool that helps manage global hiring and compliance, read this Remote review.

In the US, previous reports revealed that Amazon is granting its managers the authority to terminate non-compliant employees under its three-day on-site policy.