In their own words: What staff say about EY
Staff at big four consulting firm EY feel bullied, harassed and overworked by partners and senior management and too scared to report bad behaviour by their superiors because it might harm their careers, a landmark review has found.
A voluntary anonymous survey of more than 4000 workers and other consultation measures within the firm’s Oceania region operations resulted in a litany of complaints, on topics ranging from management practices to long work hours and corporate culture.
The report, commissioned to improve the firm’s workplace, also found the “vast majority of staff and partners feel safe” and believe “people behave in a respectful manner towards others” at the firm. However, the “positive experiences are not equally experienced by all”, with women and minority groups most likely to “experience lower levels of safety and inclusion in EY Oceania”.
More than one in three EY staff resigned in the year to March 2022, according to data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Will Willitts
More than 4000 staff and partners responded to an online survey and the firm held 216 “listening sessions” and 21 “informant interviews”, and received 159 written submissions to compile the report.
The responses were anonymous in the report. Here’s what some of the workers said:
“You can’t really afford to be sick or to have a bad day at work because you’re still kind of seen as weak and get a bit isolated, and then you are playing catch up on your performance indicators.”
“The hardest engagements with longer daily working hours expected are mostly allocated to non-Australian born Asians especially those from overseas and [on a] visa sponsored by EY.”
“80+ hours/week is normal. There’s an acknowledgement that the hours are bad
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