KPMG offers shorter working week or sabbatical option to staff

KPMG staff have been told they can help save their jobs by opting for a four-day week or taking a short break from work on 30% pay.

The voluntary scheme, which has been put to the accounting firm’s staff across the UK, is an attempt to stave off redundancies among its 11,000 strong workforce.

The company is the latest professional services firm to be affected by the economic downturn.

Staff can choose to work four days a week or take between one and three months off work on 30% pay if asked.

Employees have until the first week of February to decide whether to take up the offer.

Iain Moffatt, office senior partner at KPMG in Leeds, said: “In the face of an increasingly bleak economic outlook UK wide, including our 750 Leeds office employees, we are exploring a programme that allows us manage our workforce flexibly to make best use of our people, allowing us to make adjustments in our business should the need arise.”

He added: “The scheme is a voluntary one, aiming to avoid job losses, where employees are invited to accept a four day week (with the fifth day unpaid) or between one and three months off work on 30% pay if the firm asks them to do so at some point in the future.

“No one has been asked to take time off yet and there are no immediate plans to do so.”

KPMG has offices in 22 locations in the UK, including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Plymouth and Cambridge.