Deloitte has become the latest American company to shift away from work from home after they announced that annual bonuses will be linked to office attendance.
Time spent in the office will now be considered as part of performance reviews which is used by the accountancy company to help decide staff bonuses.
Staff will be expected to be in the office for 50 per cent of the working week at least.
An email sent to staff in the company’s US tax division, seen by the Financial Times, read: ‘being present at a Deloitte office or client site will now be considered in your performance evaluations’.
Deloitte is the latest financial powerhouse in America to follow the trend of moving away from work from home and comes after Jamie Dimon – the boss of JP Morgan – went on a eight-minute long expletive-laden rant against working from home last month.
The message sent by Katie Zinn, the tax practice’s chief talent officer, added that Staff should ensure ‘in-person collaboration 2-3 days (50 per cent) weekly’.
Staff in the division had already been handed a return to office mandate a few months ago but this announcement could entice people back to the workplace even more if staff face missing out on bonuses.
Deloitte’s US employees use a combination of badge swipes and time sheets to record their working location, one person at the company said.
Time spent in the office will now be considered as part of performance reviews which is used by the accountancy company to help decide staff bonuses at Deloitte
Many employers can also track the location of where staff login to computers to check their whereabouts.
Deloitte have become the latest American company to try and put pressure on staff to return to the office, shunning the flexible working conditions which were popularised during the pandemic.
Last month, the boss of JPMorgan went on a rant when one of his employees challenged him about the return-to-office order.
Nicolas Welch was sitting front row at the company’s townhall in Columbus, Ohio, on February 12 and asked the third question of chief executive Dimon.
He challenged Dimon on his order for all staff to be back in the office five days a week, claiming it went against JP Morgan’s ‘good conscience’.
Welsh was then briefly fired after the ordeal.
In June 2024 Wells Fargo sacked over a dozen employees after it discovered they were using ‘mouse movers’ while being away from their desks.
The products – also known as ‘mouse jigglers’ – exploded in popularity during the pandemic as staff tried to escape the watchful eyes of bosses while apparently working from home.
Deloitte have become the latest American company to try and put pressure on staff to return to the office, shunning the flexible working conditions which were popularised during the pandemic
The contraptions let users leave their desks for hours at a time without being detected by their employer, by moving their computer mouse autonomously.
Deloitte’s performance evaluations looks at areas such as client work and administrative tasks.
Compliance with the return to office rules will now be included in the assessments and the lowest-ranked individuals will not receive a bonus.
In a statement to the FT, Deloitte US said: ‘Deloitte performs a tremendous range of work for our clients across many industries.’
‘Our hybrid model is not one-sized-fits-all. Our model is designed for clients, businesses, team leaders and professionals to co-locate when it matters most to the performance of our work and the development and wellbeing of our professionals.’
