A Huge Announcement From PricewaterhouseCoopers To Allow Tens of Thousands To Work From Home

As reported in the San Francisco Business Times yesterday, “The announcement that consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers will allow tens of thousands of its employees to work from home sent shockwaves through the business world. But it could be the start of an even larger wave…it will allow 40,000 of its 55,000 workers to work remotely anywhere in the continental United States. If other professional service firms and corporate titans follow suit, the implications could be huge for commercial real estate developers and brokers, small businesses in central business districts and city governments among others. That’s not to mention the effect of hiring dynamics – as recruiters already say workplace flexibility is an expectation, rather than a perk.”  Think about the impact on downtown restaurants that won’t have office workers coming in for lunch or business dinners, public transit agencies who in many regions are begging riders to come back, even the holiday party venues…a survey of 1,000 recent college graduates showed that remote work is one of the biggest factors in picking an employer.