Young people need to be in the office because of artificial intelligence, says PwC UK boss | Companies

Junior employees should spend more time in the office to get faster promotions, as artificial intelligence is ready to take over routine tasks traditionally given to younger employees, the UK head of accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.

Generative AI removes “tasks that have been trained and refined in the past by our younger employees,” Kevin Ellis, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers UK, said during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Without these tasks, “you have to somehow get people to advance their careers faster,” he added.

“It's a much more important face-to-face time, and there's a lot more development,” Ellis said. “So people in the office need to work together more.”

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Companies are trying to convince employees to spend more time in the office, with research last year showing that managers prefer to work remotely less, while employees are keen to maintain habits formed during the pandemic. Ellis was categorical that younger employees, in particular, should avoid the temptation of working from home.

“If you're asking me for my opinion on how to be successful in your career,” he said. “I will be in the office four to five days a week.”

His comments came as PricewaterhouseCoopers released a report showing that British companies are adopting AI faster than their international counterparts. The survey of more than 4,600 global CEOs revealed that 42% of UK bosses said they had implemented technology in the past year, compared to 32% globally.

In the auditing space, AI will likely mean the end of hourly billing for clients, Ellis said. “Outcome-based fees, physical licensing and charging for technology and technology assets will become more important,” he said.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey also showed that British CEOs are more optimistic about the global economy than they are about domestic growth. Six in 10 expect an improvement in the global economy, while fewer than four in 10 said the same about UK manufacturing.