People

Why this matters to PwC

We will achieve sustainable long-term success only if we truly value our people and provide everyone with a great place to work. So we set out to attract the most talented and committed people, create an environment in which our staff can realise their full potential, and benefit from first class training and development.

Ultimately, being a great place to work creates a virtuous circle. It means we can focus our collective expertise to deliver the highest quality for clients and business partners. And it means the best people will not only join us but stay with us throughout their careers.

What we do

Creating a great place to work starts before you join. To help us recruit the best people and have a diverse workforce, our recruitment programmes must reach out into the wider community. So, for example, we offer graduates placements in collaboration with SCOPE, the UK cerebral palsy charity, and we sponsor skill.org.uk, the national bureau for students with disabilities.

Our approach to diversity crosses borders. Every year, our Tax World Experience, Assurance Good Global Citizen and global mobility programmes enable hundreds of outstanding people from countries worldwide to work in the UK, developing new skills and networks. At the same time, hundreds of you from the UK go to work in PwC firms overseas.

We tailor our learning and development programmes to help us all grow personally and professionally. As well as technical training, these include networks of coaches and counsellors, plus initiatives such as the ASPIRE programme for potential partners, leadership programmes including Emerging Leaders, and the PwC Business Diploma for managers.

We also develop leadership by bringing people outside their comfort zones. Our global leadership programme Ulysses, enables future leaders to work at grassroots level in developing countries. Zubin Randeria, one of three UK partners involved in Ulysses in 2006, worked in Ghana with BasicNeeds, a charity working to ensure that mentally ill people can access the treatment they need. And several UK people worked in Kenya on the inaugural OASIS community programme.

We recognise that we all have different needs and priorities. Therefore, we offer flexibility in pay and benefits through Choices, enabling everyone to create their own bespoke package. Whether you want to cycle to work, take extra holiday, build up your pension or offset your car’s carbon emissions, Choices lets you do it.

We also work to extend this flexibility into leisure and lifestyle. Our YouMatter surveys show how much you value flexibility such as home working – and last year we approved 95% of requests for flexible hours.

We also take a proactive approach to helping our people stay healthy and recover from illness. To date we have delivered our 'desk survival course' aimed at improving musculoskeletal health at over 40% of offices and are aiming for 100% by year-end. And the Zest for Life at PwC programme seeks to help us all adopt a healthier lifestyle through exercise, better nutrition and working smarter.

Thanks to your volunteering, hundreds of people across the firm are also helped and connected by our support networks – including the Ethnic Forum, GALE (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) Network, PwC Special Needs Child Support Network, PwC Women, and several faith networks. We also support people's efforts for their chosen causes through our Volunteering Awards Scheme, our Matched Giving Programme and our collaboration with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO).

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