Big Four firm PwC has issued a warning internally to its UK employees that it will be cutting Friday half-days perks while bonuses for some parts of the UK business will be reduced.
As reported by the Financial Times, an internal memo by chief people officer Ian Elliott stated that the firm’s bonus pool will be similar to last year however “a number of areas” would see “reductions in average bonus per head”, while some would also see lower pay rises.
Last August, PwC UK revealed its consolidated profit fell to £1.3bn for the financial year to 30 June 2023, down from £1.5bn recorded in the previous year. While its average profit per UK partner dropped to £906,000, down from £920,000.
Additionally, the CPO stated that the firm is also cutting its summer perk which allowed employees to take a half-day on Fridays.
The policy came into play in 2022 which allowed staff to leave at lunchtime on Fridays for the months of June, July and August (12 weeks) after a successful pilot scheme the previous year.
However, each year that number of weeks that staff are allowed to do this has been dropping. It was already reduced to eight weeks in 2023 but this move by the CPO sees the scheme drop to six weeks.
A spokesperson for PwC stated that “the vast majority received a bonus and a three per cent pay rise.” They added that the “summer working hours are continuing once again, albeit for a shorter period.”
The spokesperson noted that “bonuses are discretionary, and there will always be cases where they are not given, such as where performance expectations are not met.”