School is back in session — at the kitchen table. To help employees juggle their work and parenting responsibilities in the age of COVID-19, Big Four firm PwC revamped their child care benefits with new and upgraded offerings.
Seventeen of the nation’s 20 largest school districts are choosing to conduct class remotely this year due to COVID-19, according to Education Week, a trade publication for educators. That means more than 4 million children will be learning spelling and arithmetic from home — right alongside parents who are trying to work.
“As schools start to announce their plans for the pandemic, we wanted to help make things easier for our working parents,” says Kim Jones, people experience leader at PwC. “It’s a challenging time; many of our employees are overseeing their children’s education while working from home.”
Jones says she and her team spent the last couple of months reevaluating their benefits package to prepare for the potentially unusual school year. She says the company recognized the challenges posed by quarantine would be a greater burden to some employees more than others.
“What is happening right now is disproportionately affecting our women and people of color,” Jones says. “We want to help them succeed and make them proud of where they work.”
These are the optional perks she and her team introduced this month for all employees:
