PWC is hiring massively in China, changing its Hong Kong office
PwC is doubling its workforce in China over the next five years with a $1.25bn investment plan that will create 20,000 jobs.
It is also building ‘smart offices’ in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai as it aligns its strategy with the Chinese government’s five-year plan that aims to accelerate green development and build a ‘Digital China.’
PwC’s China plan, unveiled this week, is part of the Big Four firm’s ‘New Equation’ a global initiative announced over the summer aimed at creating 100,000 jobs globally.
PwC currently has around 800 partners and 20,000 staff across Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau. By doubling headcount, it will dwarf the number of employees it has in other regions like the UK, where it employs 22,000 people.
PwC’s investment will focus on five ‘key strategic areas’ – digital redesign, digital products and solutions, environmental social and governance (ESG)’ regional economic clusters; and workforce of the future. It will recruit in ESG, digital transformation, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory and also strengthen its ‘regional delivery centres.’
The plan doesn’t disclose how many staff PwC will hire in each location, or the split between graduates and more senior staff.
PwC China is also adopting new working practice and its Hong Kong office will be among those where it is ‘redesigning and reconfiguring’ to embrace the concept of Activity-Based Working (ABW) –people work in designated areas that cater to the requirements of their task. Ewan Clarkson, chief people officer, PwC China and Hong Kong, told eFinancialCareers:
“We want to be more deliberate and intentional about the role of the office, so to ensure that it is digital yet human-centric, serving as a hub for us to be collaborative, productive and creative. We will work continuously with our clients proactively to develop workplace solutions that best enable our people to deliver quality work remotely and reliably.
“We know that the office is here to stay, but its role will change. Whether it be hot-desking for flexible use, open areas for collaboration, smart meeting rooms for conferencing, or quiet rooms for focused work.”
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