PWC for working parents

[billy418]

I've been offered a job at PWC in a non-client facing role.

The role is senior manager level.

They have offered a four day working week which is what I currently do at the moment.

I have 2 year old DS who is in nursery three days a week. I tend to do one day in the office and flex my hours around nursery pick up and drop of.

Is there any mumsnetters who are able to shed any light on how flexible and family friendly PWC are to work for?

Thank you!

Bump

This is likely to depend on your line manager. PWC is massive so what one employee might do is not indicative of the whole company.

FWIW at senior manager level it would be a red flag for me if a new manager was overly concerned about flexibility/childcare - I say that as a senior manager with young children, I probably wouldn't have changed jobs when they were that little because of how full on the first few months in a new job are and I'd already 'earned my stripes' in terms of flexibility when it was needed

One of my colleagues moved to PWC last year from our firm and hasn't found it family friendly at all. She's often working until 8pm at night and the culture is very much that your peers are your competition.

I will caveat however that she is in an advisory role and at manager level. She also works for London, so it might be better in a regional office.

Many years ago, a our PwC area MD said in a conference speech that he expected employees to put the company before families. It was a no from me and I left soon after. I doubt anyone would say that now, but I don't believe the unspoken ethos will have changed that much. Unfortunately it is still very difficult for mothers to progress their careers in this sort of environment.

Mmmm maybe not one for me even non client facing. I already work in a long hours high stress job (client facing) and that's what I'm trying to move away from!

Have a look at this:
www.pwc.co.uk/press-room/press-releases/pwc-announces-new-flexible-work-deal.html
They have recently announced ambition to be more family friendly and flexible.
I'm not at PWC but in the same industry. Although I do work a lot from time to time (manager role and client facing) I'm finding that everyone is very supportive and going out of their ways to support personal commitments. I have lots of colleagues who step out during the day to do nursery runs and school pick ups.
I guess my point is depending on your team and manager it can be accommodating - no harm in openly asking questions to understand the dynamics

Thank you!

I'm just not sure whether it is followed in real life 🙈

In my experience PwC has been very good on flexibility and even more so since covid but there is a push to be back in the office more frequently 40-60%. I would also say it does depend heavily on your team but also how firm and clear you are on what you can and can’t do and being flexible around that e.g. doing calls early or late if you want to be free at 4pm for a pick up.

I am client facing but I would have thought that non-client would be more flexible unless your role is in something which would require your presence in the office e.g. organising events, training etc.

I would also agree with @Thisresonateswme that there is no harm in discussing this with the team you will be joining. If someone joining my team wanted to discuss it I would be more than happy for them to have a coffee with me or one of the working parents in my team at the same grade to discuss there experience. If they are not willing to do that, I would be wary but I think that is very unlikely.

Thank you!

Are you currently at PWC?

Yep, 16 years and counting, nearly 10 with a child.

Any chance I could DM you?

Have sent you a DM

Thanks!

I work at PWC, and would say it depends on the role and team. My senior manager (non client facing) picks his primary school aged son up from school a few times a week and has the time blocked out in his diary to allow him to do so. If he's in the office on those days he leaves early and works once his son is home.
My whole team is very flexible. I can shift my hours around childcare if I need to (2 young DDs in nursery). But I think part of that is down to the senior manager being very flexible and having a young child himself.

I'm just not sure whether it is followed in real life

The 40-60% of time in the office is followed. Although there is starting to be a push towards it being closer to 60% than 40%. But if you're doing 4 days a week I think you'll be fine wfh 2 days a week.

Thank you.

I would be the SM so hopefully that means I could set the tone for people working with me!