Hywel Talks Hybrid At EY U.K.

“We have championed flexible working for many years prior to COVID-19 and we will continue to do so. This has been built on a culture of trust with our people. We also believe there will always be a need for EY to have office space across the U.K., but how we use our offices in the future will change with a greater emphasis on collaboration rather than as a place for individual working. We will therefore be moving to a hybrid model where our people are able to split their time between their home, office, and client site.

“We will continue to listen carefully to the needs of our people and broader stakeholders as we go through this transition process. We believe a hybrid model creates an opportunity for us to maximise the benefits of both in-person collaboration and flexible remote working for our people and clients.

“Having been champions of flexible working for many years, hybrid working is an evolution rather than a revolution for EY. It’s about trusting and empowering our people to manage their day in a way that works for them, their teams, and their clients.”

— Hywel Ball, chairman of EY U.K., said today about the firm moving to a hybrid working model once social distancing restrictions are lifted in Britain. That means EYers will be able to continue working from home two days a week, then spend the rest of their time in the office or at client sites.

Then in September, EY will “start a period of experimentation in which it will test, refine and evolve its approach to ensure the model meets the needs of its people, clients, and other stakeholders.” This will be accompanied by a longer-term plan to reconfigure EY offices “to create more collaboration spaces for meetings and group working,” the firm said.

As the Financial Times noted today, PwC U.K. told its 22,000 staff in March that they would spend an average of two to three days a week in the office after the pandemic ended, while KPMG U.K. staff will spend a maximum of four days in the office every two weeks.

Deloitte has yet to publicly announce its plans for where Deloitters in the U.K. will work after the pandemic, but the odds are high it will be a similar model to what the other three are doing.

EY staff to spend at least two days a week working from home [Financial Times]