PwC walks the flexible working talk with FlexDress Everyday in Singapore

Singapore, 13 April 2018 – Today, PwC Singapore announced that it has officially introduced a flexible dress code for everyday as yet another concrete initiative to empower its people and align with the firm’s agenda to promote a flexible working culture.

Said Trillion So, Human Capital Leader, PwC Singapore:

“One of our firm’s priorities is to focus on wellbeing and providing a flexible workplace for all. I truly believe that people are most productive when they are given the flexibility to be the best they can be, and organisations can play a part by being a catalyst to bring out the best in its people.

“At PwC, our focus on flexibility is all-encompassing – from where and when we work to the way we dress. It is all about our people. Our new dress code will give the flexibility to our people to dress more comfortably and I’m happy to see a lot more employees – especially working mothers and fathers – take advantage of our flex initiatives.

“We are excited to go against the grain and enable our people to ‘be themselves’ unlocking the diversity each of us brings to the workplace.”

Officially called “FlexDress Everyday”, the revised dress code simply calls for employees to dress responsibly and exercise good judgement, which will empower staff to make the right decisions on their appropriate outfit for the day.

Flexibility and balancing priorities

According to a recent report Staying Ahead of the Pack: What She Said,in Singapore, about half of women (45%) believe that their work demands interfere with their personal lives. While flexible work measures have been increasingly introduced to mitigate this, employees remain sceptical on whether employers value flexible work as an efficient way of working. There is also a real stigma regarding the perception of people who do take advantage of flexible work schemes, with 48% of female respondents in Singapore stating that they believe taking advantage of work-life balance or flexible programmes has negative career consequences at their workplace. This is even more pronounced with almost 57% of new mothers in Singapore that they were overlooked for career advancement opportunities, such as promotions, upon their return from maternity leave.

Concludes Trillion So, Human Capital Leader, PwC Singapore:

“Earlier this year, PwC surveyed over 3,600 professional women globally (aged 28-40) to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. In response to uncertainties that surfaced surrounding the impact of flexible work practices on career advancement, PwC is walking the talk with the necessary transparency and governance around our full suite of Flex initiatives to maintain the needed trust between employer and employee to make flexible work culture a sustainable success.”

ENDS