PwC staffers have enjoyed the “Friday feeling” a bit more than their peers at the other Big 4 firms in the last few years, but that may be about to change.
The accountancy group is beginning to rein in perks from free time to meaty salary increases to make life a bit more uncomfortable for its employees as it struggles with a difficult market and an overstuffed workforce.
The first target is its popular “summer Fridays” scheme allowing them to take a half day every week during the warmer months. Commonly found in New York, the scheme reportedly started as far back as the 1960s when execs downed tools early to pack their bags for holiday homes in the Hamptons. Some spots on the east end of Long Island are known for being as buzzy as Manhattan during the summer months, with business meetings and important networking held out of the city.
In the U.K., PwC introduced a flexible summer working hours pilot in 2021, which formed part of a push to improve staff’s work-life balance alongside hybrid working during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Employees hailed the opportunity to start their weekends early. Nearly three-quarters said it had improved their wellbeing “to a great extent,” detailing in an internal survey how they would spend their extra time with friends and family. The employees also had the relief of a quieter email inbox on the days they would finish early.
However, the company has slowly curbed the pilot since its introduction.
When the program was introduced, staff got the chance to take a half-day for all 12 Fridays of the Summer. This was reduced to eight weeks last year.
Now, that number has been slashed, and staff can only take six half-day Fridays over the Summer, the Financial Times reported.
Productive Fridays?
While PwC hopes that returning its employees to a more rigid working week will boost productivity, the giant accountancy firm may be shooting itself in the foot.
While there isn’t much data to confirm it, Fridays are generally considered to be the least productive in a working week. It’s typically the first day to go among companies that have introduced a four-day working week.
A study by Texas A&M of computer usage among nearly 800 in-office employees found a steep increase in usage on a Friday afternoon.
Some companies have introduced “no meeting Fridays” that allow workers to finish their major tasks before the week wraps up. “Casual Fridays” have long been used as a means to boost morale and eke out employees’ final shred of weekly motivation.
But in general, there is a feeling that betting on a Friday afternoon to inspire a turnaround in fortunes is akin to a Hail Mary.
Wealthy Wall Street workers have used summer Fridays to escape to the Hamptons.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The dreaded Pip
But based on PwC’s other changes, the push away from flexibility might be less motivated by productivity and more as a means to push more employees out the door.
The company struggled with falling revenue growth last year, announcing plans in November to cull around 600 U.K. jobs.
Alongside the curbing of Summer Fridays, PwC has also reduced annual salary increases for its staff. They can expect to see a 3% increase in their future paycheck, compared with the 9% raises they enjoyed just a couple of years ago.
Those pay raises were deemed more necessary during the cost-of-living crisis when inflation shot into the double digits but are considered less necessary now that it returns to the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
Meanwhile, more employees are reportedly being placed on dreaded performance improvement plans, known colloquially as “Pips,” which prevents those on the plans from salary increases. They’re usually considered the first step in a worker leaving the company.
One unnamed associate told the FT that staff “messed up” by overhiring during the pandemic boom, and staff were increasingly being put on Pips or offered voluntary redundancy packages.
A PwC spokesperson told Fortune: “We continue to invest heavily in our people. The vast majority received a bonus and a 3% 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.”
Whether it’s a means of pushing more staff out the door or simply the latest return to a pre-Covid work culture, few PwC staffers are likely to cheer their employer as they’re glued to their laptop at 3 pm on a sunny July Friday.
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