PwC introduces a traffic-light dashboard to guide return-to-office policies
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the world’s leading Big Four consulting firms, has rolled out a new monitoring system in the United Kingdom as part of its hybrid work plan. After signaling a shift toward a policy requiring employees to be in the office for at least three days a week (or 60% of their hours), PwC added a novel layer: a monthly report that includes a location dashboard described as a traffic-light system. The arrangement, first reported in part by the Financial Times, marks a notable step in the use of technology to enforce working patterns beyond traditional schedules.
How the traffic-light system is supposed to work
The central feature is a dashboard that visualizes office occupancy with color cues. When in-office headcount sits at 60% or higher, the dashboard displays orange. If occupancy slips to 40% or below, it shifts to a bright red, signaling a potential breach of the in-office target. Senior managers and team leaders have access to the dashboard, enabling them to plan staffing and client-facing coverage. Employees, by contrast, can only see information related to their own attendance, not the aggregate data for the firm.
PwC reportedly began rolling the system out in April. In addition to the occupancy dashboard, the company cross-checks data from multiple sources to verify that employees are reporting accurately. The workflow reportedly links with the Workday platform (the HR system many large firms use for payroll and personnel data) and cross-references it with daily attendance logs and individual employee reports. What this means in practice is that location data and login activity are used to confirm whether someone is actually working from the reported site.
What happens when targets aren’t met
PwC’s policy requires that staff be physically present in PwC offices or in client offices for the mandated three days per week. When attendance falls short, the system prompts for explanations. Some employees have expressed concern that chronic under-occupancy could trigger sanctions or influence performance assessments, while others emphasize the need for clarity around what counts as a valid exception (illness, caregiving, or other extenuating circumstances).
What the company says and what employees fear
PwC has publicly framed the dashboard as a practical tool to help workers manage time and to ensure client work continuity. In messaging circulated to staff, HR executives acknowledged concerns about privacy and described the monitoring as a way to address genuine coordination gaps rather than to “punish” employees for isolated incidents. Still, critics argue that the combination of location data, Wi‑Fi connection tracking, and cross-system data matching creates a granular level of oversight that could chill flexible work arrangements if misused.
Privacy, transparency, and the broader context
The move by PwC sits within a broader trend among large employers experimenting with digital tools to shape hybrid work. When done with strict data governance, it can improve scheduling, collaboration, and client delivery. But critics warn that location tracking and occupancy dashboards inherently raise privacy questions about how much personal data is collected, how long it’s retained, who can access it, and for what purposes data can be used beyond workforce planning.
Regulatory and ethical considerations are part of the conversation. Employers should balance operational needs with employees’ privacy rights, ensuring data minimization, clear purpose limitations, and transparent communication. It’s also essential to implement safeguards so behavior is managed with fairness, not punishment for ordinary life events such as a doctor’s appointment or family responsibilities.
What employers can learn from PwC’s approach
For firms considering similar measures, several lessons emerge. First, define the rationale and limits of monitoring in plain language, and share this with staff and employee representatives. Second, ensure robust data governance: minimize data collected, restrict access to a need-to-know basis, and articulate how data are stored and for how long. Third, maintain human oversight to avoid overreliance on dashboards for disciplinary actions, especially when extenuating circumstances apply. Finally, provide workers with transparent, easy access to their own data and a clear avenue for disputes or corrections.
Looking ahead
PwC’s traffic-light dashboard represents a tangible attempt to operationalize hybrid work. Whether it will become a model for others or a cautionary tale remains to be seen. What is clear is that, as offices reopen and hybrid work becomes the norm, technology-driven oversight will continue to spark debate about how best to balance productivity, client service, and employee privacy.
