Another nail in the coffin for 'Summer Fridays'

• PwC has gradually curtailed Summer Fridays in recent years. 
• Some partners expected the perk to be eliminated altogether, The Financial Times reports.
• Top firms are tightening their belts as demand slows.

PwC staff in the UK are bracing for a popular perk cutback.

The Big Four accounting firm is slashing its "Summer Fridays" to a span of six weeks this year, The Financial Times reported.

PwC first introduced Summer Fridays in 2021, and gave Friday afternoons off for a three-month span in 2022.

It reduced that period to two months in 2023, according to FT, before cutting it further this year.

Some partners thought Summer Fridays would be eliminated entirely this year, FT reports.

In a memo, PwC chief people officer Ian Elliott cited "market conditions" for the shift, saying employees should balance summer hours "with the needs of our clients, teams and work commitments, which should continue to take priority," according to FT.

In addition to cutting Summer Fridays, PwC is handing out smaller bonuses and salary increases to some of its UK staff, which numbers 26,000 workers, FT reports.

PwC offered UK buyout packages earlier this year as advisory work has slowed at top consulting firms.

PwC told Business Insider in a statement that the "vast majority" of its employees "received a bonus and a 3% pay rise," adding, "our summer working hours are continuing once again, albeit for a shorter period."

A perk on the decline

A recent study shows that Summer Fridays are getting phased out across the industry.

Eleven percent of North American workers reported having the perk, CNBC reported last month, citing a 2023 Gartner survey of 1,100 people. By comparison, 55% of companies offered the benefit in 2019, according to a Gartner survey of 94 HR leaders.

CNBC reported the shift could be attributed to the rise of hybrid work and work-from-home Fridays — as well as companies cracking down on flexible work paradigms that emerged during the pandemic.

Other companies are keeping Summer Fridays but adding a catch. Kellogg's global snacks unit this year lets its workers take off for half the day on Fridays — but makes them make up the time at other points in the week.

Despite the decline in Summer Fridays, some business titans think the 4-day workweek is an inevitability.

"You know, between the advent of AI, generally, we hear from people that Fridays are just not — people are not as productive on Fridays, and so I just think it's an eventuality," billionaire hedge fund manager and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen said in April.