Yahoo Finance Deloitte boss says UK staff can choose how often they come to the office
The chief executive of Deloitte has said the accountancy giant’s 20,000-strong UK workforce will be able to choose where they do their jobs in future, with a flexible model embraced.
Deloitte becomes the latest business to commit to flexible working, as bosses look at future office plans.
The firm, which has offices across the UK, including in six buildings in London, said that before the coronavirus outbreak less than half of the team worked from home on a regular basis. However, with people doing their jobs remotely since March last year, the pandemic has accelerated Deloitte’s hybrid working model.
Boss Richard Houston said: “Once the Government has lifted all of the Covid-19 restrictions and we’re back up to full office capacity, we will let our people choose where they need to be to do their best work, in balance with their professional and personal responsibilities.”
He added: “I’m not going to announce any set number of days for people to be in the office or in specific locations. That means that our people can choose how often they come to the office, if they choose to do so at all, while focusing on how we can best serve our clients.”
The company said a recent staff survey found 81% of respondents anticipate working from a Deloitte office for up to two days a week in the future.
Deloitte’s offices reopened last month for people that couldn’t work from home.
Once government guidance lifts and offices can be fully used again, Deloitte envisages its buildings being used “principally for team collaboration, training and client meetings”.
In a LinkedIn post, Houston wrote: “Personally, I have definitely enjoyed some aspects of working from home – I’ve had more time with my family and I certainly haven’t missed the commute. But I have also really missed the networking and collaborating part of office life and so I’ll be using our office spaces when I have the opportunity to connect with clients or colleagues, balancing this with the benefits of remote working.”
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