KPMG UK has launched a “four-day fortnight” as part of a package of measures designed to offer greater flexibility, choice and support to its people.
As part of the firm’s new hybrid way of working, from June onwards, the expectation will be that KPMG’s people spend up to four days in the office spread over a fortnight, with the rest spent at home or at client sites. This plan comes in response to feedback from staff who have said that they would feel comfortable spending most of their time at home.
The firm’s people will attend their KPMG office to work, for meetings or training that need to be held in person, but will not have to stay for the whole day. They will be empowered to manage the rest of their working week virtually from home.
Building on the successes realised in the past year of remote working, the new strategy has been designed in consultation with KPMG’s 16,000 strong workforce and aims to offer greater flexibility and choice.
In a recent staff survey undertaken in March , 87 percent of respondents said they liked not having to commute; 76 percent enjoyed the greater flexibility working from home offers and 65 percent felt they now have a better work/life balance.
Jon Holt, chief executive at KPMG UK, said: “We trust our people. Our new way of working will empower them and enable them to design their own working week. The pandemic has proven it’s not about where you work, but how you work.
“We have listened to our people and designed this strategy around our staff and how they can best support our clients.”
The firm has also launched a range of measures to support the wellbeing of its staff. All UK staff will be given an additional day off on June 21 and an extra two and a half hours off every week over the summer, to give people time away from work and to re-energise.
The new package of measures forms part of KPMG’s wider investment in hybrid working. Over the course of 2021 the firm will roll out an additional £44m programme of investment to transform its offices into collaborative spaces and invest in new home working technology for staff.
The firm’s planned adoption of hybrid working will see workplaces evolve into space used primarily for collaboration, teamwork and learning.