The WFH Shake-Out Continues

Global accounting giant PWC just announced that it would use location tracking software to monitor all 26,000 employees in the UK to enforce a strict 3-day per week in-office policy. The Guardian notes that PwC described its new stance as a “shift” from a “hybrid working balance” towards “more in-person work.”  

Ah, WFH, we hardly knew ye! One could see this shift, echoing similar moves at other firms, as signaling a retreat from pandemic-era practice, but it may really be symptomatic of a classic shake-out. After so many firms went full WFH and initially said they might remain that way forever, what we see now is likely a retrenchment in practice to those sectors and firms where it makes more sense. More cynically, one could also detect notes of McGregor's Theory X management style in the wording from PWC. 

As with most of these this-changes-everything moments, more will likely be the same than different in the long run.