LONDON, May 6 — KPMG today announced new flexible working plans to allow its UK staff to work in offices up to four times per fortnight from next month as Britain loosens coronavirus restrictions.

The global accountancy firm has followed other corporate giants such as HSBC and Proxima in offering hybrid working patterns to its workforce during the pandemic.

KPMG’s 16,000 UK staff will be able to come into its offices for in-person work, meetings and training, with the remaining working hours spent at home and client sites.

Employees will also be given an extra two-and-a-half hours off per week during the summer months, which staff can choose to take in the morning or afternoon.

KPMG UK chief executive Jon Holt 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.”

A March survey of KPMG UK’s staff indicated that 76 per cent enjoyed the greater flexibility of homeworking, 65 per cent felt they had a better work-life balance, and 87 per cent liked not having to commute.

"Our offices will become a place people go to collaborate and learn,” Holt said.

"The pandemic means we have a cohort of people who have never been in the office and coached face-to-face — we need to get those connections back.”

A poll of 20,000 adults by think-tank Demos in December 2020 suggested 79 per cent of people working from home preferred to continue doing so to some extent even after lockdown restrictions eased.

But there are fears that permanently switching to remote and hybrid working will hollow out city centres as hospitality and retail businesses suffer from lower footfall.

Britain has been one of Europe’s worst-hit countries by the pandemic, with nearly 128,000 deaths from the virus, but it now has a roadmap to unlock the economy following months of lockdown measures and a successful vaccine rollout. — AFP