KPMG Netherlands explains how hybrid work fits client service and teamwork

KPMG Netherlands is using its hybrid-working page to make a larger point: at a Big Four firm, flexibility is not just about where people sit, but how client service, coaching, and visibility are managed. Because the page lives on the careers site, it works as both a recruiting tool and a statement of workplace expectations for consultants, auditors, and advisory staff. For anyone weighing promotion odds, busy-season demands, and how much autonomy they will actually get, that matters more than a generic promise of remote work.

How KPMG presents hybrid work to candidates

The Netherlands careers site does not treat hybrid working as a standalone perk. It sits alongside pages such as “Discover working at KPMG,” “Discover life at KPMG,” and the Sustainability section, which signals that the firm wants hybrid work read as part of the wider employee value proposition. That placement matters because it tells candidates the policy is tied to how KPMG wants people to experience the firm, not just where they log in.

For job seekers, that framing is useful. A strong hybrid model usually means more flexibility in where work happens, but also clearer norms about when office time is expected, when client meetings require travel, and how teams stay connected. In professional services, those questions show up fast during busy season, large implementation projects, and audit fieldwork, when in-person coordination can matter more than convenience. KPMG’s Dutch page appears to frame hybrid work as a real operating model rather than a vague promise.

What it means for learning, visibility, and career progression

For employees, hybrid work changes more than commute time. Early-career staff often learn by watching how managers handle clients, how seniors review work, and how problems get solved under pressure. When the team is split across home, office, and client site, that informal coaching has to be more deliberate, which can affect how quickly juniors build confidence and how visible they are to decision-makers.

That is why hybrid work is also a management issue, not just an HR benefit. Leaders need to be intentional about communication, staffing, and inclusion when not everyone is in the same place every day. In a consulting or audit team, the most workable hybrid setup is the one that preserves responsiveness to clients while still giving employees enough autonomy to manage their lives. The trade-off is familiar inside KPMG: flexibility can support retention and morale, but it also requires more discipline to keep people visible enough to progress.

KPMG’s own reporting makes that people strategy explicit. In its Integrated Report 2024/2025, the firm says, “Only through our people can we live our promise: to inspire confidence and empower change.” In the same workforce reporting framework, KPMG places “Working conditions,” “Well-being and engagement,” and “Inclusion, diversity, and equity” under its own-workforce reporting. That is a clear sign that working patterns are not separate from the business model; they sit inside it.

How the Dutch page fits KPMG’s wider operating model

The Dutch hybrid-work page is part of a broader pattern across the firm. KPMG UK’s careers page says its Agile Working aim is “the right balance for everyone” and that it will try hard to accommodate employees’ unique circumstances, creating a schedule that works for them at any grade. That phrasing matters for employees thinking about the partner track, because it suggests flexibility is not reserved for senior people who can negotiate it informally. It is presented as something that should scale across levels, even if the actual rhythm of work still depends on client demands and team structure.

KPMG has also continued to publish around the topic well after the first pandemic shift. In 2024, the firm published “Beyond the Office: Embracing the Hybrid Future.” KPMG New Zealand’s 2023 hybrid-work playbook went a step further and included a case study titled “Hybrid work at KPMG.” Taken together, those materials show the firm using its own work model as a reference point in both recruitment and broader workplace thinking.

What KPMG’s earlier UK shift says about the rules in practice

The clearest historical example came in the UK in 2021. On May 5, Reuters reported that KPMG told its 16,000 UK staff they would work in the office for up to four days in a fortnight starting the following month, with the rest of the time at home or client sites. BBC coverage the same day said the same group would work four days each fortnight in KPMG offices and receive an extra two-and-a-half days off over a four-week period. Consultancy.uk later described the policy as six days of every fortnight working from home.

Those accounts show how KPMG’s model moved from emergency flexibility toward a more structured long-term pattern. The key detail is not just that home working was allowed, but that office days, home days, and client-site time were all part of the same arrangement. For staff, that means hybrid at KPMG is not simply a question of “remote or not”; it is a managed schedule shaped around client service and team coordination.

Why the broader market context still matters

The pressure on hybrid policies has not gone away. In a Fortune report dated April 12, 2024, KPMG research found that U.S. CEOs were increasingly accepting that hybrid working is here to stay, after 62% had expected a full-time return to the office by 2026. That backdrop helps explain why a careers-page hybrid policy matters: firms are still deciding how much structure to impose, and candidates are still comparing how different employers balance flexibility against oversight.

For KPMG staff, the practical takeaway is straightforward. Hybrid work at the firm is being framed as a managed operating model that supports client service, teamwork, and talent attraction at the same time. The upside is more autonomy and a clearer path to balancing office, home, and client-site work; the trade-off is that visibility, responsiveness, and coordination remain central to how performance is judged. That is the real signal in the Dutch page: flexibility is available, but it is still designed around how KPMG expects professionals to deliver.