UK Edition
PwC is cutting half-day Fridays and slashing bonuses as the accountancy giant grapples with a “challenging” year.
The Big Four professional services firm reduced the duration of its summer working hours scheme, which allows UK employees to finish at lunchtime on Fridays.
Ian Elliott, PwC’s chief people officer, told staff that the post-pandemic perk will be in place for only six weeks this summer, down from eight weeks last year.
In a memo seen by the Financial Times, he said: “Given market conditions, it’s especially important that we carefully balance [summer working hours] with the needs of our clients, teams and work commitments, which should continue to take priority.”
The scheme was piloted in 2021 as part of the firm’s hybrid working policy and extended to 12 weeks in 2022.
The firm initially found that allowing PwC employees to condense their working week to four-and-a-half days boosted wellbeing and reduced email traffic which allowed workers to properly switch off.
However, some partners have reportedly questioned whether the perk would remain under PwC’s new senior partner Marco Amitrano and his leadership team amid concerns that it was too disruptive for clients.
Mr Elliott also warned PwC’s 26,000 employees across the UK that although its bonus pool will be “similar” to last year, the firm is reducing payouts in a “number of areas” and some pay rises will be smaller.
It’s the second year in a row that PwC has told employees to expect lower pay rises and bonuses compared to record post-pandemic levels when the deal-making boom pushed up profits.
Big Four firms have spent the past year drastically cutting costs and reversing the post-pandemic hiring spree as economic uncertainty and high inflation saw clients cancel projects and demand lower fees.
The deal-making slowdown resulted in lower profits for PwC’s bosses in 2023, as UK partner payouts dropped from £920,000 to £906,000 each.
The latest move comes after PwC reportedly embarked on a round of “silent lay-offs” across the UK, a voluntary redundancy programme where employees were told not to inform colleagues if they had accepted a severance package.
A PwC spokesman said: “We continue to invest heavily in our people. The vast majority received a bonus and a 3pc pay rise, and our summer working hours are continuing once again, albeit for a shorter period. Bonuses are discretionary, and there will always be cases where they are not given, such as where performance expectations are not met.”