McKinsey Weighs Asking Staffers to Come to Office More Often

(Bloomberg) -- McKinsey & Co. is considering upping the amount of days it expects staffers across North America to spend in the office each week as the consultancy joins a raft of large firms looking to limit remote work. 

Senior partners in Miami and Boston told employees in town halls recently that they may soon be expected to return to the office more often, according to people familiar with the matter. The stricter stance would likely also apply to employees who are “on the beach,” a term used to describe consultants that are in-between projects, the people said, declining to be identified as the deliberations are private.

The comments have stirred angst among some of the company’s consultants, who often work remotely when they aren’t currently assigned to a project, the people said. These staffers are usually only in the office when they need to meet with clients or when they’ve flown to sites to see customers, they said.

“Our approach will balance the best of in-person apprenticeship and connectivity with what we have learned over the past few years,” Eric Kutcher, a senior partner and chair of McKinsey’s North America business, said in a memo to staff on Tuesday. “It is worth emphasizing — we will define a renewed set of expectations, not a policy — as has always been the case in our firm.”

McKinsey has about 45,000 employees around the world, a figure that’s risen by about 60% since 2018. The consulting giant had experienced a slowdown in demand for its services in recent months, though it’s also seen an increase in the number of clients seeking artificial intelligence-linked projects. 

“We know that spending time in person — in client team rooms and in our offices — leads to better apprenticeship, stronger client impact, more innovation and a stronger social fabric,” Kutcher said in a statement. 

McKinsey’s deliberations come as rival PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP recently told UK staffers they must spend at least 60% of their time in the office or with clients, up from a previous requirement of between two and three days a week. Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy also ordered his employees to return to the office five days a week beginning in January, up from the three days a week they were previously required to badge in. 

Those moves have sparked renewed discussion about the merits of flexible working arrangements, which became the norm across many white-collar industries in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Many firms have touted their in-office requirements, or lack thereof, as a way to attract new and diverse talent. 

McKinsey, for its part, has found in its own research that flexible work arrangements have been especially valued by working women.

“Employees consistently point to greater productivity and reduced burnout as primary benefits” of hybrid work options, the company said in its latest Women in the Workplace report. “And flexibility is especially important to women, who report having more focused time to get their work done when working remotely.”

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