Big Four firm PwC has handed its UK employees an extra day of holiday this year, in praise of their hard work over the previous financial year. June 29th will see the firm’s Britain-based staff of roughly 16,000 offered time off – while those who are already on holiday will have the same chance on an alternative day.
PwC announced in September that revenues had increased by 5% to £3.6 billion for the financial year ending in June last year. However, as profits fell by 1% to £822 million, the average distributable profit per partner before tax also fell – by a larger 8% to £652,000 – compared with £706,000 one year earlier. Since then, the firm has been weighing up ways to reward partners and staff for their efforts in spite of this drop.
Following this, the Big Four professional services giant has finally plumped for offering everyone at the UK arm of the network an extra day off. On the 29th of June, all staff will have the option to stay home, enjoy the sun, or potentially sleep off a late night following England’s third group match at the World Cup. Those who already had the day booked off, or those who cannot take the day off due to prior business engagements will be offered an alternative day of rest, according to PwC.
The move is far from an inexpensive one for PwC, with the firm missing out on a mass of billable hours on the day. With chargeable rates thought to sit at around £1,000 a day for consultants and rising to £2,000 for senior consultants, losing the work of some 16,000 staff could cost in excess of £10 million in revenues by some estimates, depending on who actually takes the day off. On the other hand, the good news for PwC is that the decision places the day at the end of June, which is traditionally known in the auditing and consulting industry as off-season before engagements pick up again in the autumn.
Kevin Ellis, Chairman at PwC UK, announced the news while participating in a live Q&A webcast with UK staff from the firm's Manchester office. He stated, “We want to make sure we reward our people for all their hard work, so this year we’re going to give everyone an extra day off on the 29th of June. We want to give something that is for all of our employees. It’s our way of saying thank you for their outstanding efforts supporting our clients in what remains a challenging economic and political landscape.
Sourced from ConsultancyUK