We Think This Means PwC and EY Won’t Be Going Full RTO Any Time Soon

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk
empty office

Shortly after the new year Fortune published an article about “how return-to-office mandates could change in 2025” (and a related, separate article on AI predictions with quotes from the same people). In it we get two short paragraphs from Yolanda Seals-Coffield, chief people officer at PwC, and Ginnie Carlier, chief talent officer at EY, with their thoughts on RTO trends for the year ahead.

Although neither of them outright said their firms won’t be getting rid of hybrid work it sure would look silly if they said all this about how positive flexibility is for the workforce only to turn around and make people come into the office every day anyway.

Here’s PwC:

“It’s no secret that being together in person fosters greater connection, collaboration, creativity, and development. While we’re increasingly seeing the pendulum swing back to being in the office five-days a week, we believe that hybrid will continue to be the norm in 2025. Reports have shown that hybrid workers demonstrate the highest levels of satisfaction, and hybrid schedules can allow for more purposeful engagements.”

And EY:

“Flexibility continues to be a desire among the workforce. Organizations that continue to embrace hybrid working, focused on bringing people together for moments that matter, will come out on top when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent.”

On that last point, RTO mandates have been used to get people to leave when companies don’t want the trouble of laying them off (duh). With attrition at Big 4 firms still lower than expected it wouldn’t be surprising if firms take a more aggressive stance on their people showing their faces in the office and/or client site. For the meantime, it looks like hybrid work won’t be going anywhere. We hope.

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KPMG Arrives at the Paperless Audit Party

office-space-402a-061907.jpgWe’ve received several reports about Klynveldians attending “eAudit” training this summer which marks the firm’s attempt to get break into the “paperless” audit world. Reports have been mixed with some saying that it’s best technology KPMG has invested in but others claiming that it will only run on Vista which may be problematic when Windows 7 rolls out.
Forgetting the technology mumbo-jumbo, it’s been long rumored that KPMG was the last major firm to make the move to a paperless audit. This could have been due to a number of things:
More, after the jump


• Partners that have been around since WWII that can’t even use email put the kibosh on the whole idea
• M-O-N-E-Y
• Accountants, in general, resist the idea of trying a new restaurant so don’t even think about messing with their audit methods
What’s more surprising is that some Radio Station clients have said that they prefer the old school audit. Not exactly sure what is so appealing about young auditors schleping around boxes of binders that weigh a few metric asstons but whatevs.
Our point, dude, is that KPMG has finally caved on this whole “paperless” idea. Since audits aren’t truly paperless we’re not sure what all the fuss is about but KPMGers got an extra week in Florida in the dead of summer out of it. Discuss the firm breaking into the new century in the comments or let us know how terrible your lives will be because of it.

Wanted: Actor Who Can Channel the Quality of Ernst & Young

We know Ernst & Young is looking for some extra help but this particular role will require someone (an extra from Inglorious Basterds, perhaps?) that is theatrical first and a numbers person second:


For starters, why do you need an actor to “demonstrate what not to do in the workplace”? Couldn’t they just secretly film employees on any old regular Thursday and get the footage they need? Then you could do a candid camera type ending where Jim Turley jumps out and cans their asses.

As far as casting is concerned, David Hasselhoff immediately comes to mind but in the off-chance that the Hoff isn’t available, who picks up this gig? We imagine an in-house choice would be preferable in order to save on costs.

JT has a nice strong face/chin but can he do the accent? We know the Vegas office is a cesspool of talent. Perhaps this is the hazing for one of the new partners? Ideas welcome.

3 thoughts on “We Think This Means PwC and EY Won’t Be Going Full RTO Any Time Soon”

  1. RTO will slowly but surely be in full effect in 12-18 months. All new job postings require an in person presence. Furthermore, there are many ways to fix those pesky WFH workers. In reviews, “would be nice to see you collaborate with the team in person”. Areas of improvement: team bonding.

    Sudden decreased utilization.
    Sudden PIP.
    Sudden missed opportunities because they went to so and so who was in the office.

    It’s a real shame. I even read an article that blamed poor audit quality on WFH 💀😂

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    1. If you want to keep your job and receive a paycheck, you will return to the office. There are way too many people taking advantage of WFH and are providing their own daycare on the company dime. It’s not fair to the others who ACTUALLY WORK.

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      1. “There are way too many people taking advantage of WFH and are providing their own daycare on the company dime.”

        Obviously, you don’t have children, or if you do, you haven’t raised them yourself. It’s impossible to work, even poorly, and take care of young children at the same time. Don’t propagate this stupid myth that parents are somehow doing double-duty because of WFH.

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