It goes without saying that the last year has been incredibly challenging. Throughout it all, my priority and that of my fellow partners has been our people – and our goal as a firm has been to be an agent of stability in an otherwise chaotic world. That included acting to protect our people’s safety and looking to layoffs as a last resort, but it was also about doing whatever we could to ease our people’s minds, provide them with resources and enhanced benefits to help support their mental and physical well-being, and equip them with tools to help them manage the blurred lines between work and home life. 

I am incredibly inspired by the resilience, commitment, and empathy that our people have demonstrated this year. They moved to remote working seamlessly and nearly overnight; helped our clients face some of their greatest challenges and business transformations; engaged in meaningful discourse about our society and values; took care of their loved ones; supported each other; and showed up for their communities. As individuals and as a firm, we have been led by our purpose to solve the world's biggest problems at a time when those problems have never felt closer to home.

A few years ago, I wrote a guide on how employers and employees could work to trust one another. At the time, I wrote that “an environment where every employee feels ‘looked out for’ regardless of background” is critical to the trust that brings employers and employees together to help them achieve great things. That trust has never been more important to me than it is today, and my goal is that PwC looks out for our people now more than ever. 

As we look back on the sacrifices our people have shared over the past year, we must also look ahead to how we share in the success we have accomplished together. Although full recovery from the pandemic is a long road we still have ahead of us, I am so proud to announce that we are thanking our people now by:

1. Giving back financially: We are committed to being a firm that creates new opportunities for people to grow, learn, care for their families, and secure their personal futures – and giving back to our people financially for their work during a hard year feels great. Today, we are announcing base salary increases across the board as well as an expanded bonus pool, both of which are funded above pre-pandemic levels. And, because our business is in a strong position, we will provide a special “thank you” bonus this month in the amount of one week’s pay to recognize our people’s incredible efforts during extraordinary times. 
2. Encouraging and rewarding our people for living life their way: Our people are the heartbeat of our organization, and their well-being is the most important thing for us to look out for. Because it is so important to take breaks, unplug, and experience new things (especially post-pandemic!), we will be giving $250 to employees each time they take a full week’s vacation for the next year, with the potential to continue this program into the future if we see wide adoption. We are also launching ‘Fridays Your Way,’ which will discourage calls and meetings on Friday afternoons this summer so employees can dedicate time to focus on what they need. 
3. Driving our culture of care and belonging: We’ve heard from our people that they are craving opportunities to come back together and recognize each other's contributions and achievements in person, so we will open one office in each market for opt-in use next month, and will transition to a new, hybrid model of work beginning in September. This will allow us to continue to serve our clients while balancing remote work and preserving the elements of our peoples’ experience that they prefer. And as we safely open offices, we are doubling the funding for our "Real-Time Recognition" (spot bonuses) pool so colleagues can say thank you with financial rewards to one another for caring for each other and living our values. 
4. Helping our people to continue to learn and grow: Over the last several years, we have made tremendous investments in our people’s digital skills training and acumen so that they can keep pace with today’s rapidly changing business environment, and we are continuing to evolve, deepen, and personalize our people’s learning experiences. We started with digital skills training and encouraged the majority adoption of a badging system, and our next step will be to offer a Diversity and Inclusion badge so we can continue to inspire our people to learn and foster a culture of belonging. 

People are the bedrock of our business, and the people of PwC are my inspiration. Although these “Shared Success” benefits are new, our desire to help our people grow their careers and enhance their lives is not only time-tested, but also central to our strategy.