Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers announced My+, a new three-year, $2.4 billion program to overhaul employees' benefits and professional experience, on Friday.
The move would prepare PwC for a "future where our people make customer-like choices, supported by consumer-grade technology, to build a personalized experience at every stage of their career, with the ability to continually make adjustments as their lives evolve," according to the firm.
"The pandemic has changed the wants and needs of our people — and we want to meet them where they are," Kathryn Kaminsky, vice chair and trust solutions co-leader at PwC US, told Accounting Today. "We are reimagining a future that has personalization, that puts our people’s individual needs and well-being front and center by making the largest investment a professional services firm to date has made in its people, all supported by easy-to-use technology. They can expand how flexibly they work — picking when, where and how they work. And our people can focus on development and upskilling through opportunities to grow, practice and learn new skills and work on different teams & assignments."
Other firms followed suit as a result of the pandemic:
"We can’t expect everything to return to how it was before the pandemic," added Kaminsky. "It’s clear people’s mindsets have changed and so should their employers. We know our people want an experience that matches what they value and what makes them happy. They told us that they want more choice and more flexibility. They want it in a way that is personalized to their needs and interests. My+ is rooted in that feedback."
“There has been a fundamental shift in the relationship between employees and employers," said Yolanda Seals-Coffield, deputy people leader at PwC, in a statement. "We can’t sustainably compete on compensation and benefits alone. We must take bold action — to provide a personalized career experience, based on choice, that engages our people to stay longer and inspires top talent to join us — along with developing business professionals to lead our teams and serve our clients.”
The My+ program is built on four main areas. These four areas are:
- Well-being: Continued options for approximately 40,000 PwC client service professionals to choose "where, when and how much they work." Options include fully in-person, virtual and hybrid roles, and/or expanded options for reduced schedules, paid leaves of absence and the potential to work from anywhere, even internationally. Staff will receive a pair of week-long firmwide shutdowns each year in the U.S. in July and December.
- Total rewards: Customized, easily accessed benefits and perks for "every stage of [staff's] life and career, and a personalized platform to help people identify benefits, find providers, manage costs and have access to one-on-one support. PwC will also regularly review salaries and make base compensation adjustments, if appropriate. The firm will also expand parental leave for all parents from eight to 12 weeks and double the number of free visits with a mental health professional from six to 12 annually. The firm will also increase the reimbursement amount for out-of-network mental health support from 70% to 90%.
- Development: PwC will launch a "simplified, tech-enabled, personalized learning platform" for modern skill set building. Firm leaders will also utilize team feedback to better understand what’s working and what's not for its staff.
- Always a PwCer: The firm will help staff members pursue career paths that support "well-being, development, sense of purpose and ambitions ... whether that’s inside or outside our firm."
"The future requires flexibility, choice and a willingness for organizations to continuously innovate and evolve," added Kaminsky. "That means creating a culture where your employees have customer-like choices to design a career tailored for them. We are a people business. People serving people. And this is designed to rethink the work experience in our profession. It’s designed to attract and keep our talent. These are the people who drive our firm! These are the people who serve our clients and help us grow."
More information on My+ is available in a
