Ernst & Young Reviews in Sydney, Australia Area

Pros

- Good culture and people. Better culture, social club and more approachable (open floor plan, even for Partners) and personable staff than my experience with other big 4 audit firms. EY has won a number of awards for employee satisfaction, and the firm values its people highly. This may vary slightly from business unit to business unit however, and like most audit firms, there is still a high staff turnover.
- Excellent opportunities for career development and learning (recognised as a worldwide leader), as well as generous study support during the CA program and/or university. Excellent opportunities for promotion, secondment overseas, and this is strongly encouraged by senior staff. There are also open review processes, as well as upward feedback and inter-company assignments
- Benefits such as drinks nights, social events (movie premieres, sport days etc), a big Xmas party,, Grad camp, annual retreat etc. Top notch beer & wine at all such events
- Strong position in market, good client base and the firm is committed to market leadership and growth
- Nice leave opportunities during non-busy seasons, and offers of flex leave, TOIL and reward days off
- Nice, new building on George St which is convenient to get to by public transport.
- In-house gym

Cons

Many of these criticisms may be of the industry in general, and not specific to EY:
- Long hours. Especially during busy periods, there is an expectation of staff to work (at least) 40+ hours and weekends if necessary. Expect more "work" and less "life", especially on the lower rungs of the ladder, and even then most of your social life may revolve around work events
- Relatively lower salary compared to accounting positions in industry, and at some levels, also compared to other big 4 firms. Most staff stay until completing their CA and then jump ship to a cushy job outside public accounting
- Difficult to take leave around busy season (post year end) unless it is planned well in advance, and the busy periods stretch for a significant portion of the year, depending on the division
- The nature of the work is very sensitive to the economy and the business cycle - when the clients are making money its good times, otherwise expect downward pressure on budgets and wages, cutting of discretionary expenditure and benefits, as well as layoffs
- Its mainly auditing

Advice to Senior Management

Management is excellent, and most of the downsides to the job are related to the nature of the industry and not to the firm itself. Keep focusing on people, its perhaps EY's biggest drawcard

Pros

global organisation, quality professionals, quality transactions and experience

Cons

Career and salary prospects vary greatly amongst service lines

Advice to Senior Management

listen to employee feedback REALLY, and drop token or PR gestures, they don't work

Pros

Smart people, professional and many parts of the business to interact with which makes the learning process a lot faster

Cons

Performance management can sometimes be an issue especially during a downturn and partners are not always created equally as we know

Advice to Senior Management

Get partners to work cross regions alot more instead of only worrying about their own P&L. Think strategically about where you know the business to go and be bold in putting money towards those initiatives

Pros

A variety of people and experiences. There are many employees at the same peer level, good networking opportunities.

Cons

Frequent unpaid overtime, mostly mindless work ie. Do what was done last year.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees better and they will reward your firm with consultancy jobs when they leave to join your clients.

Pros

Globally accessible. Variety of practice areas.

Cons

Immensely different management styles in different offices.
Hierarchy makes it difficult for one's advancement.
Round table reviews biased.

Advice to Senior Management

See Cons above.

Pros

- work with smart people, develop great communication and teamwork skills
- knowledge of industries (via publications) is strong
- ability to work overseas/transfer to other divisions is becoming easier

Cons

- management do not communicate within the group or to individual portfolios changes until very end
- expectation to work late without taking into account people's personal circumstances
- lack of forecasting on resourcing leading to severe resource shortages and immense pressure on seniors/managers
-

Advice to Senior Management

- start viewing employees as actual people versus resources
- ACT on suggestions from employees versus 'taking suggestions on board' and pushing them to the side
- you're losing your best staff - that's an indication that something fundamental needs to change, not just using the excuse that 'that's how the business model operates therefore we need people to leave'

Pros

> Flexibility of working hours so long as deadlines are met
> Very competitive set of co-workers
> variety of engagements to work on
> high focus on training programs
> work frequently tests your limits

Cons

> Siloed mentality of partnership
> non-competitive salary structure
> managers not involved in decision making
> limited consulting experience of leadership

Advice to Senior Management

> provide more opportunities to staff to work across service lines
> improve salaries in line with the current market rates

Pros

Great people, good values, great offices

Cons

Work load, women's progression in the firm

Advice to Senior Management

Leadership and mobility for women and better paid salaries.

Pros

Excellent professionalism and a good culture for achievement...if you do the hours

Cons

It's a bit of a boys club at E&Y, with few senior women to look up to and very little diversity at the top. Like seems to promote and reward like!

Advice to Senior Management

More staff involvement in strategic decision making and less of a 20th century culture PS culture

Pros

Learning, opportunity, mobility, scope to grow, working with best talent

Cons

Senior leaders have the tendancy to place partner politics

Advice to Senior Management

Be transparent