PricewaterhouseCoopers has decided to postpone the return of its U.S. employees to its offices until November as the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to proliferate.
The Big Four firm is finding that many of its clients are also delaying their return-to-work plans well past Labor Day, while encouraging more employees to vaccinate. The firm’s
PwC and many other businesses are delaying their reopening plans, fearing the risk of the Delta variant, especially for unvaccinated employees. As reports of breakthrough infections among even fully vaccinated people cause the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise the guidance for masking and social distancing, companies are struggling with the safest way to do business during the ongoing pandemic.
“The safety and well-being of our people really continues to be our No. 1 priority,” said Kathryn Kaminsky, vice chair and U.S. trust solutions co-leader at PwC, during a press conference Thursday. “With that in mind, we have made the decision to delay the official reopening of our U.S. offices until November 1. With that, though, we will continue to monitor the situation based on the latest information and of course the data, and we’re prepared to adjust our plans as needed. We always remain focused on balancing the safety, well-being and flexibility needs of our workforce, and of course our clients. As of now, we’re not requiring our people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to return to the office, but similarly to what I said about returning to the office, we are going to continue to monitor the data and reevaluate our position as we get closer to our November 1 official office reopening date. All of this will be done by continuing to adhere to federal and local health guidelines. ... These tough decisions aren’t unique to our firm. All organizations are facing similar challenges.”
The survey found that employees want the flexibility to work remotely, although executives remain wary about the challenges. Nearly one-fifth (19%) of all employees would like to be fully remote today even if COVID-19 were no longer a concern. The majority prefer a hybrid model with a variation of in-office and remote days of work.
“A key theme we continue to see is business executives are keen to rebuild revenue and begin applying the lessons learned from the pandemic as they redesign how work gets done,” said Neil Dhar, vice chair and chief clients officer at PwC. “With the surging Delta variant, the great reopening for many that was scheduled to be post-Labor Day has been delayed for many businesses we’re seeing. A growing number of companies are mandating vaccines for employees, with others pushing out their return dates further into the year, some even into the New Year.”
While executives have been setting up hybrid work plans, they are finding corporate culture has become their biggest challenge. Employees are willing to look for new job opportunities if they can’t get the flexibility they desire. Among employees who are seeking new jobs, nearly one in 10 said that it’s because they moved away from the office while working remotely and don’t want to go back to onsite work.
“As we reviewed our survey, we really saw that hybrid work is going to be a reality for many organizations,” said Bhushan Sethi, global people and organization co-leader at PwC. “Over half of the employees are actually expecting people to have some time in the office over the next three to six months. Even though some companies have pushed out their broad-based reopening dates, hybrid work is going to become a reality. With that comes the challenges people have.”
Employees are looking for new job opportunities not only for more flexibility, but also for improved benefits and compensation. Nearly two-third (65%) of the employees surveyed in August said they’re looking for a new job, up from 36% in May. Among the executives polled by PwC, 88% said they’re seeing higher turnover than normal.
The top reason employees cite for looking for a new job is a better salary, followed by benefits. When executives were asked about why employees are leaving, however, only 23% believed benefits were a reason. For the employees who were seeking new opportunities, flexibility, expanded benefits and compensation were the top incentives.
Many employees also perceive job changes as a way to close pay gaps, with 46% of women seeking higher salaries compared to 34% of men. More Latino (82%) and Black (67%) employees see job changes as a way to close the salary gap, compared to white and non-Latino employees (57%).
