The move comes as some staff members deviate from the hybrid working guidelines set by the company. Partners at EY have been provided with anonymised “turnstile access” data, revealing the frequency of staff attending offices, the Financial Times reports.

The statistics are intended to serve as a motivational tool, influencing teams to adhere to EY’s hybrid working guidelines, rather than a punitive measure. Reports suggest that over 50% of certain teams are not meeting the company’s policy of being in the office for at least two days a week. This development highlights how large employers are grappling with office attendance rates amid the shift to hybrid working during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other major companies, such as Bank of America and Citigroup, have taken similar steps, with the former sending “letters of education” to US employees failing to attend the office. In the UK, Citigroup informed its employees about checking attendance at least three days a week. Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC UK have also announced tighter flexible working policies, The Irish Times reports.

EY, with around 21,000 employees in the UK, has reportedly correlated office attendance with midyear performance ratings for some partners. The firm made “material updates” to its personnel privacy notice in October, indicating changes to the collection and processing of swipe card entry data to oversee flexible work arrangements.

Despite these developments, EY is currently continuing staff layoffs in the UK, with at least 64 employees notified of potential redundancy this month. This follows last year’s cuts, which amounted to 300 positions. EY has introduced a voluntary redundancy scheme for 40 staff in its customer consulting division and a compulsory scheme affecting 24 employees in its financial services legal advisory services team.

An EY spokesperson stated: “We continually assess the resourcing needs of our business and, in some parts of the organisation, we are consulting on proposals to align current resourcing requirements with market demand.”