Diversity and Inclusion

Creating value through diversity. Be yourself. Be different.

Our commitment to diversity

At PwC, we respect and value differences. We know that when people from different backgrounds and with different points of view work together, we create the most value – for our clients, our people and society.

Our diversity initiatives and strategies are designed to attract, develop, and advance the most talented individuals regardless of their race, religion, age, gender, disability status or any other dimension of diversity.

It’s easy to say that our personal lives, background and experiences shouldn’t affect our work. But in reality, it’s not that simple.

Who you are and how you're able to interact with others has a direct relationship on your performance. An inclusive work environment where you can be open and honest about who you are enables all of us to perform at our best.

At PwC, we are committed to creating the kind of environment where everyone can feel comfortable and confident being themselves.

Diversity in action

Sustainability spokesperson and a hands-on dad

Andrew leads the Consulting practice in Malaysia and Sustainability & Climate Change practice for PwC’s South East Asian Consulting services.

He is also a father of two young boys. In 2012, his wife had the opportunity to further her studies in a prestigious university abroad. He made a difficult decision to give up his role and the partnership for a year, take care of his young family and support his wife's ambition. PwC's leaders stood by his decision and welcomed him back to the firm once he was ready to return.

Graphic designer with a passion for fashion

Jean is one of our graphic designers and she 'creates beautiful things'. She's a person of short stature but full of life - nothing gets her down.

She volunteers on our Corporate Responsibility programmes, loves fashion, networking and is active on Instagram.

An auditor on FWA and a supermum

Johanna is one of our Senior Managers in Assurance. She is also a mother of a toddler and on a Flexible Working Arrangement (FWA).

She says, “A number of nay-sayers have the impression that this arrangement is not realistic for client facing staff but I ensure that my portfolio of clients is able to fit a three-day work week and that the people I work with are aware of my work arrangement. However, given that I’m in client service, there will be days when I’ll need to work on my off days. In such situations, I’m happy to compromise and reschedule my off days.”

Markets Leader and native Mandarin speaker

Nurul is the Markets Leader at PwC Malaysia. She's also trilingual - speaks and writes Mandarin, English, Malay - and is a mother to four children.

She had a two year stint in the London office of PwC UK from September 2000 to August 2002 where she worked on an account with a new global client. She's worked with some of the largest public listed companies in Malaysia on audit and business advisory matters.

Tax pro and football ace

Taariq is one of our firm's football players. He's also a father of two young children and a Managing Consultant in our Tax practice.

One day, Taariq was asked to help with his family business. He took advantage of the Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) of three days a week to balance work and family responsibilities. He came back to work full time after the short FWA stint. This year, he was featured in the media several times, speaking about taxation and economic issues.

Flexibility at Work

flex+ is a programme which incorporates various forms of work flexibility and benefits in consideration of people’s lives outside work. Under flex+, we have initiatives such as flexTime, a 10-day firm-wide block leave called Rest & Refresh, and flexFridays where employees are allowed to leave work at 12:30pm every second Friday of the month.

Find out more about the various options and initiatives available for our people under the following categories:

Reduced Work Week (formerly Flexible Work Arrangements or FWA) – where our people can choose to work a shorter work week, from two and a half to four days a week. This allows our people to spend time on things that are meaningful to them, whether it's spending more time with their children or getting an MBA.
Time Out – allows our people to opt for unpaid leave of up to one month, beyond annual leave entitlement, for various purposes such as taking exams, studies, vacations, performing Haj/Umrah etc.
Career Break – our people have the option to take a stretched time off, from one to three months for personal or professional developments.
flexSpace – where our people (Managers & above) are able to choose where to work (when the situation calls for it) from as long as they remain connected and contactable.
flexFridays – giving our people some personal time with an early start to the weekend, the firm provides the option to leave the office at 12.30pm every second Friday of the month.
flexTime – recognising that the normal working hours may not suit everyone who may have different work habits and personal priorities, our people are given the option to select their working hours based on staggered arrival and departure times.

flexMobile – a monthly mobile allowance for calls and data to enable our people to work off-site.
flexWear – dress down on Fridays with jeans, polo t-shirt and your favourite sneakers!
Great Place to Work (GPW) – our employee engagement programme that includes initiatives such as sales, promotions, discounts, and employee appreciation events.
Rest & Refresh – our ongoing efforts to encourage our staff to take breaks to rejuvenate. This is a planned block leave where the Firm closes our offices for a period of time in order for everyone to have a rest.
Club Subscription, Fitness & Wellness – in support of leading an active and healthy lifestyle, we provide our people with staff benefits for fitness and wellness activities.
Birthday leave – where Managers and above can opt to be on leave on their birthday.

Nursing room – a designated room is provided for nursing mothers to have the privacy they need.
Maternity leave – to allow for sufficient period of recovery, rest and bonding upon the birth of their child, mothers are provided paid maternity leave for a maximum of 90 consecutive calendar days.
Paternity leave – to encourage fathers to spend time with their newborn and assist in childcare when their baby arrives, fathers are provided paid paternity leave of 5 working days.
Adoption leave – to support parents who decide to adopt a child, our people are provided paid adoption leave of 3 consecutive working days.
Reserved parking – to provide the convenience and the support for expecting mothers who travel to work, parking bays are allocated for mothers in their fifth month of pregnancy onwards.

Events that took place

This year, in keeping with the International Women's Day 2018 theme #PressforProgress, we held several events for our people to help shape the debate and accelerate change.

These events include:

An exclusive Q&A session with Datuk Nicol David
A dialogue session in collaboration with Lean in Malaysia members
Sharing sessions by five 'books' on their life experiences

Learn more about our efforts here.

Q&A session: In the hot seat with Datuk Nicol David

#BeBoldforChange

Gender Bender - A chance to experience what the opposite gender goes through on a daily basis - from physical challenges to societal norms, and what it's like to walk in the opposite genders’ shoes, literally!.

Sharing by Nora Manaf, Chief Human Capital Officer of Maybank Group - Sharing session on her experiences and being bold both in her personal live and as a HR Professional.

Special Lunch with A Stranger - Pn. Norimah (Founder of Nuri Wellness Centre) was our guest of honour for Lunch with A Stranger. She shared her personal journey as a person living with a disability, a single mom and as a champion for the blind community. Our #UrutPwC masseuses this year are also from Nuri Wellness Centre!

Gender Bender Challenge - walking the opposite genders' shoes

Sharing session with Nora Manaf, Chief Human Capital Office, Maybank

To learn more, watch our International Women's Day video!

Gender Bender Challenge - asking the opposite gender out

Special Lunch with A Stranger with Pn. Norimah, Founder of Nuri Wellness Centre

For more IWD photos, check out our Facebook album.

Valuing differences and addressing biases

Human Library - Just like a library, except that the books were people (who've been subjected to discrimination and experienced being stereotyped), and the reading, conversations. It was a safe, non-judgemental, learning environment where human "books" shared their personal stories with "readers" interested in learning more.

To learn more, watch our Global Diversity Week video!

Blind Lunch With A Stranger - A twist to the normal Lunch with a Stranger, participants were blindfolded for lunch to understand challenges faced by visually impaired. We invited a special guest (Moses, Executive Director for the National Council for the Blind Malaysia) to share his experience (from cooking, travelling to matching clothes).

For more Diversity week photos, check out our Facebook album.

Breaking down lunchtime silos

Lunch with a Stranger (LWAS) is an event that takes place every Thursday, from 12pm to 1pm at our in-house cafe, Eat@PwC Cafe. Each lunch session is hosted by an LWAS ambassador (one of our own) and allows our staff from various lines of service to meet new people, dispel unconscious biases and promote inclusion.

We also have a special once a month themed LWAS session where we discuss specific topics under the Diversity & Inclusion umbrella.

For more photos from our previous LWAS sessions, check out our #lunchwithastranger hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.

Free movie screenings

We organised two free movie screenings for our people under our Diversity & Inclusion programme - 1) Redha to bring awareness towards Autism, and 2) Adiwiraku in support of Teach for Malaysia's #EmpoweredToUnlockMyPotential campaign. Both events were well attended by our people.