Today I noticed that a July 2023 article about EY Oceania's cultural issues has gotten an unusual amount of traffic over the past few days, a phenomenon that can only mean one thing: EY's cultural issues should be back in the news and not for good. Lo and behold, my instinct was correct.
In this article we focused on the practical side of an independent report released by EY Oceania after a young auditor was found dead in its Sydney office on a Saturday in August 2022. 46% of the 4,500 current and former employees surveyed for the report said their health had been affected Negatively as a result of long working hours and fatigue, two in five people were considering quitting, and 31% of people at EY were working 51 hours or more per week, at least one week in four. Worse still, nearly one in ten (11%) were working 61 hours or more per week.
What we were happy with was this block:
- 15% of people had been exposed to bullying, 10% indicated that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, and 8% of people had experienced racism.
Interestingly, 78% of employees surveyed said they believe the company can make a tangible difference regarding sexual harassment, 74% regarding racism, and 70% regarding bullying. Only 31 percent said they were confident in EY Oceania's ability to change the culture of long working hours and burnout. The other 69% are clearly in denial.
Fast forward to the present day. Last month, Things He wrote from New Zealand about the mysterious departure of EY New Zealand president, partner and head of business development Braden Dixon due to a “historic behavioral issue”. What exactly it was was anyone's guess however Things Did some digging around. This may provide a clue later:
Two days after the initial report Things It was followed by “EY CEO’s departure reveals concerns about culture.” Everything mentioned below will sound familiar to anyone who has spent time at one of the Big 4 companies regardless of continent.
One former employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because “the accounting world is small in New Zealand,” described sexist and homophobic comments that made employees uncomfortable.
“I remember one audit partner [who Stuff has chosen not to name] …He'd say things like 'There's nothing worse than an all-female team at that time of the month,' or he'd joke about someone being gay.
“It doesn't give you any comfort that you can raise an issue.”
Many former employees have described the impact of tolerance in workplace matters.
“When you're 21 or 22 and these things are blatantly in your face and you don't make any effort to hide them, it creates an 'anything goes' atmosphere.”
It would lead to tension between the firm's partners because some disapprove of the behavior of others.
Several former employees have raised concerns about a culture of heavy drinking, under which staff start drinking at 5pm on a Friday and continue until midnight before often heading out into town, then “drop out again on Saturday or Sunday or perhaps both”.
“You worked long hours, then socialized with your co-workers, and that was your life,” one said. “People outside the Big Four did not understand what was happening.”
Former employees who spoke to Things She didn't hear Braden Dixon leave but said she “wasn't surprised.”
ThingsInitial reports of 'more people' put out of work, and current and former employees who seemed eager but afraid to speak up. They then discovered a senior employee – service line and position not mentioned in the article – who had been promoted following a serious sexual harassment complaint against him. “The 'Big Four' accounting firm under fire for sexual harassment” discusses this and several other incidents involving current and former EY employees. Women, specifically:
Another senior executive, who was the subject of at least two separate complaints, also continued to work, while the women who filed the complaints left the company.
One said: “It sends a clear message that revenue is more important to the partner group than women’s safety. Given how recent these examples are, EY’s sincerity in meaningfully implementing the recommendations in [the review] It seems doubtful.
“I think men who behave this way know that they will be more vulnerable to management not meeting their revenue goals than they would be to sexually harass a junior employee.”
“The Big Four accounting firm is under fire for sexual harassment.” Things March 30, 2024
“In order to maintain their income, partners will ignore even the most serious indiscretions of their peers, provided said peers still bring significant revenue to the firm,” said another former EY employee who spoke to me. Things.
Another person spoke of a partner who said it was a “widely known predator but nonetheless a protected species.”
“He has been known to spend heavy nights drinking and then groping, kissing, having sex and even licking his young bandmates – all in front of stunned onlookers who are powerless to intervene and afraid to stay silent.
“At the end of the day, all the partners care about is the revenue it brings in.”
A woman who left the company also described filing a complaint as “scary” and said she had to “sign a piece of paper saying I can’t talk about it.”
Another former EY worker who filed her own complaint said: “The process is skewed in favor of the perpetrator.” “They make you feel like a piece of [shit]It's like you're doing something to that person that could ruin their career. But there was no result for him. Women go through this terrible process and get nothing in the end. no [in terms of] Money, which I couldn't care less about. Justice, relief, or something else. This may explain why more than nine in ten people surveyed in the Independent Culture Report agree that they always feel safe in their workplace (94%) and that people behave in a respectful way towards others (92%).
There's more if you choose to read Things piece. They didn't explicitly say that Dixon left the company because of the same behavior mentioned in the article, they just opened up a discussion about the culture and partners who abuse their power to get away with horrific behavior as long as they bring in clients.
