From June onwards, the expectation will be that the Big Four accountancy firm’s workers will spend up to four days in the office spread over a fortnight, with the rest spent at home or at client sites. The plan comes in response to feedback from staff who have said that they would feel comfortable spending most of their time at home.

KPMG has also given its UK staff an extra two and a half hours off every week over the summer and will be giving an additional day off on 21 June, the day the UK officially exits lockdown. This decision was made by KPMG to allow staff to re-energise away from work after an intense start to the year.

Employees will attend their KPMG office to work, for meetings or for training that needs 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.

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. 

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 new strategy was designed in consultation with its 16,000 strong workforce and aims to offer greater flexibility and choice. In a recent staff survey undertaken in March, 87% of respondents said they liked not having to commute; 76% enjoyed the greater flexibility working from home offers and 65% felt they now have a better work/life balance. 

Holt added: ‘Our offices will become a place people go to collaborate and learn. The consequence of the pandemic means we have a whole cohort of people who have never been in the office and never been coached face-to-face - we need to get those connections back.  

‘Our new strategy for the future of work will enable our people to reconnect and test our new ways of hybrid working. This is all about flexibility, we’ll continue to listen to our people and learn as we go.’

PwC announced in March that they will introduce a hybrid-working model with their staff working an average of two to three days a week in the office. PwC says that staff will typically spend 40% to 60% of their time at its 20 UK offices or at client sites, with the rest of the week spent working remotely.They have also promised a half day on Fridays this summer.