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Whaddaya Know, KPMG Is Going Full-On Work From Home Too

Honestly, I didn’t think we’d get an announcement until later this morning from KPMG about going mandatory work from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. But at around 10:45 p.m. CT Monday night, this message came in through the tipline:

Kpmg has announced mandatory work from home starting 3/18

They r shutting down all kpmg offices as of Wednesday

And no work at client sites.

Thank God, now I can sleep soundly tonight.

The message to Klynveldians was sent by retiring Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie and retiring Deputy Chairman P. Scott Ozanus. Here’s what they said:

These are truly unprecedented times, and we appreciate your focus and flexibility as we adapt to the ever-changing COVID-19 environment. Based on the continued escalation of the pandemic over the last 48 hours and the dramatic actions that we expect from local, state and national government authorities, we have decided to further revise our guidance as we do our best to limit the spread of the virus and protect all of you and our communities.

Mandatory work from home. To ensure your continued safety, we are making it mandatory that you work from home. Most of you are already working from home, but for those of you currently working in the office or at a client site, you need to work from home after end of day on Wednesday, March 18 and until further guidance.

We recognize that there may be rare cases where a client requests our team to continue to work at their offices post March 18. Engagement Partners and Managing Directors leading engagement teams in this situation will work with the functional Vice Chair to determine the appropriate course of action, including obtaining client assurances on the safety of work conditions.

We also know that some people live in conditions that make it very difficult to work from home and a very small number of others need to work in the office as an absolute last resort and we will make the office available in limited circumstances. Submit requests for any special exceptions to permit in-office work to your applicable Vice Chair.

Remember that you are not required to work at any location that you are not comfortable with and you should not hesitate to express your personal needs.

Closing of all U.S. offices. We are closing all of our physical offices at the end of the day on Wednesday, March 18 until further notice. Please note that some of our offices will be closing earlier than end of day on Wednesday based on local situations. There will be a limited number of operational support staff who will continue to work in certain offices.

Our local offices have been planning for this scenario and we are ready to move to this next step. Please make sure you review this information on ways to secure a monitor if one is necessary for your work.

We made these decisions after much reflection and with the well-being of our KPMG family and the broader public in mind. We know that working from home will be an adjustment for many of us. Let’s support each other and learn from each other as we adapt to this new reality together.

Thanks to all of you, we will continue delivering important work to our clients from our homes.

In addition and in keeping with the guidance above, all firm business-related international and domestic travel is prohibited unless you receive approval from your Vice Chair. …

Thank you for all that you do and take good care of yourself and your families.

Stay safe, people!