The company will track employees' locations to ensure return to the office

One of the world's largest consulting and accounting firms plans to monitor the locations of its employees to ensure they comply with the company's stricter return-to-office policies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said its UK-based operation will place “more emphasis on face-to-face working” from next year, when the bank will move from requiring employees to be in the office at least two days a week to requiring them to be at their desks at least three out of five days.

A PwC spokesperson told Fox Business that the firm emails employees to let them know that their location data will be shared with them on a monthly basis.

“The new policy shifts the focus of our working week to collaborating with clients and colleagues,” said Laura Hinton, Managing Partner at PwC UK, adding: “This feels right for our business and our people as we focus on client service, coaching and training and development.”

PwC is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms alongside Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG and employs around 328,000 people worldwide. Around 26,000 people are employed in the UK.

The directive will come into force in January and, according to PwC, will give employees time to “plan these measures”.

A PwC spokesperson confirmed the new policy in a statement to the Washington Post.

“Our business thrives on strong relationships – and those are almost always easier to build and maintain face-to-face,” the company told its UK-based employees in a memo.

“By being physically present, we can provide our clients with a differentiated experience and create the positive learning and coaching environment that is key to our success.”

When asked what would happen if it turned out that an employee had circumvented the return-to-office order, a PwC spokesperson said: “We would first like to understand the reasons for this.”

Deloitte does not have a mandatory return-to-office policy, but this may vary from team to team. KPMG allows its employees to follow a hybrid model.

EY has also begun monitoring employee compliance with return-to-office rules. The company's employees were required to be present at least two days a week – but half of them did not comply with this rule, according to the Financial Times.

Many companies required their employees to return to the office more often after the pandemic subsided.

Last month, doctor visits in the U.S. reached 68.8% of August 2019 levels, down slightly from July's 72.2%, data analytics firm Placer.ai said.

In August last year, doctor visits nationwide reached 67.6% – a significant increase from the recovery rate of 55.9% in the same month in 2022.

According to Placer.ai, the rate at which workers returned to the office in August 2021 was only 39.1%.

The latest data shows that Miami, New York, Atlanta and Dallas outperformed the rest of the country.

In New York and Miami, office visits reached 85% and 90%, respectively, while in Atlanta, 75.6% of workers returned in August.