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Layoff Watch ’20: Apparently It’s Doomsday for Some at EY (UPDATE)

[Updated on Sept. 23 with additional information.]

EY management stuck to their narrative today that the recent layoffs at the firm aren’t layoffs but performance-based separations that were justified, even though many of those who have contacted us after losing their jobs said they weren’t on any type of performance improvement plan.

First, before EY U.S. Chair Kelly Grier led an all-hands webcast this afternoon, we were told by a source that John Short, Government and Public Sector partner at EY in Tysons, VA, said this during a call with about 200 people:

He could not stress enough that individuals are not being laid off, they’re being fired for poor performance and there’s no rule saying they need to be on a PIP. Whether people believe him is a whole other thing.

How can you tell someone you’re losing your job due to performance when you didn’t provide them with the opportunity to improve their performance via a PIP? What the hell’s the point of offering a tool like a PIP to employees if you don’t let your employees use it? I don’t get it.

During the webcast, Grier apparently called the definition of performance “relative,” according to a source, and showed a few slides with a bunch of stats about turnover at EY.

One slide seen by Going Concern called “Turnover: Definition and Historical Context” showed this data:

Voluntary: Historical average: 15%

Involuntary: Historical average: 2%

  • Conduct: very low numbers
  • Business changes/transformation: highly unusual
  • Performance based: comprise the majority of involuntary
  • Excess capacity/layoffs: highly unusual

17%: historical average annual turnover

<10%: COVID-19 period turnover

Another slide called “FY21 YTD Turnover and Actions” showed the following:

Voluntary: Averaging: 11.7%

Involuntary:

  • Consistent with historical average: 1.9%
  • Conduct: remains very low
  • Business changes/transformation: senior managers
  • Performance based: discussions occurring or nearly complete
  • Excess capacity/layoffs: measure of last resort

50% decline: FY20 performance based separations

30% decline: Total turnover during COVID-19 period

We were told that during the call, it was said that about 370 senior managers have been let go over the last month.

A source added:

Kelly said there’s typically about 1,000 individuals separated for performance in a given year. This year she says it’s about half of what it normally would be due to the moratorium put on performance based separations in the early days of COVID. All of those have now been resumed.

Kelly acknowledged that people are being let go for performance without them being on a PIP “in keeping with high performing culture.”

Again, what kind of great culture does EY really have if it’s not providing employees every opportunity to improve their performance?

The last slide we saw was called “Supporting Our Employees” and it said:

  • Support and resources through our EY Career Center and an outplacement service to help our people land outside the firm.
  • Access to EY Assist and the EY Personal Financial Planning Program to help them as they transition to new roles.
  • An additional $1,000 added to their severance pay to cover expenses like healthcare costs (COBRA) for performance separations.

Some EYers on the usual chatter sites said Kelly came off as sincere and direct during the all-hands call, while others called her “delusional,” said she looked nervous, and was talking bullshit. I don’t know, we didn’t see/hear it.

But those of you at EY who did watch the webcast, where do you stand on what Kelly said today about the performance-based separations layoffs?

[Updated on Sept. 22 with additional information.]

We’re hearing that there have been more tax layoffs at EY now that the Sept. 15 deadline has come and gone. One person who was a casualty of the most recent job cuts contacted us on Monday, and it was more of the same:

They waited until after the 9/15 deadline. Senior 3/Manager 1 and Senior Manager level in my group. My speech from my partner and HR was similar to what others have reported. Claimed to be performance related, but no pip and ratings on par with the rest of the group.

We’ll continue to update this article as we receive more information.

[Updated on Sept. 15 with additional information.]

Just when we thought the layoffs at EY were starting to die down, we heard from a few people late last week who were let go from the firm’s assurance practice.

A senior manager who had been with the firm for one year before being laid off on Sept. 10 told us:

I also know of a manager and a few seniors who were let go as well [on Sept. 10]. As a SM my severance package is for 3 months and $1k. That’s not a bad deal for someone earning $175k a year. The manager level severance package is for 1 month and $1k. The $1k is meant to cover the increased cost of COBRA coverage.

The way that EY went about this whole process is so unfair and sneaky. They categorized all of these separations as being performance based when in reality the people laid off did not have any performance issues. The cold hearted manner in which these layoffs have been conducted has left a lot of people feeling like they have been slapped in the face. It’s completely dishonest to classify these separations as being performance based.

A senior 3 in assurance who had been with EY for five years explains how (s)he was told they would no longer be an EY employee:

On Wednesday, September 9th, I was sent a calendar invite for a “Performance Discussion,” which was scheduled for September 10th. I had a call with my counselor at the end of August who discussed my year end feedback with me stating that my reviews are excellent, he spoke with my Senior Managers and they echoed how I was an invaluable member to the team and how much I had turned the morale of the team around compared to the previous year. I have always received extremely positive feedback and exceeded my peer group by a significant margin.

During the September 10th call I was greeted with a “this is going to be a difficult conversation, but the firm has performed an objective overview and determined that you are operating below your peer group.” I was told that effective today (September 10th) I would be terminated from the firm and was required to do the termination checklists, transition my team to take over my areas, and inform anyone else necessary. I was told I would be losing access to my computer at midnight, they would be sending a prepaid box to return my computer in the following week, and any further questions I had could be answered from my personal email with HR. No one on my team or the firm was told except for the partner on my current client who was informed only the night before (my counselor, who is also a partner, was not even told). I have worked on a notoriously challenging client in the office who has had some of the worst “rate my engagement” scores in the office (rate my engagement is an internal survey completed by employees who have worked > 40 hours on the client, which asks how the employees like the client, team environment, culture, executives, and various other engagement team related items). I called the partner of the engagement after my call with HR who told me he believed it was BS and that it’s a corporate decision made above him. I was then set to fully transition my knowledge, open tasks, and plans for year end to the brand new rising senior on the account.

I have never been on a performance improvement plan and have never had negative feedback in my career at EY.  It was never eluded to me that my position or status with the firm could be in jeopardy.

From reading the article I can most certainly confirm these layoffs seem to have no merit to being “performance” layoffs and it has confirmed that EY does not care about their people. I started my career at a smaller EY office where I began to believe that I was not just a number; however, transferring to a larger office quickly brought me to reality how small everyone is in the grand scheme and that everyone is replaceable at the firm.

This person said (s)he received four weeks of severance, two months of talent search help, and benefits continuing through the end of the month with $1,000 to be provided at the end of the month to help cover benefit needs. All vacation is also paid out.

Similar story for a person who worked in advisory (now EY Consulting) until Sept. 11. This person was told (s)he was being let go for performance reasons, but (s)he told us, “The work is just not there.”

This person added:

Today is my final day after exactly one year as a manager at EY. During my “Performance Discussion” the script that was read said that I was substantially below expectations for my grade. However I had not received any negative feedback, and had not yet even received ANY formal feedback at fiscal year end. Work is scarce due to COVID. We all know that this is the real reason for so many of us being let go. I could live with being given that explanation; but to blame me, citing my “performance” (which is not supported by facts) was totally disingenuous.

(S)he received four weeks of severance, plus $1,000.

We’ll continue to update this article as we receive more information.

[Updated on Sept. 9 with additional information.]

It’s been a little more than a week since we first were told about the stealth layoffs that went down at EY, and over the past seven days or so, we’ve heard from several other recently separated EYers who confirmed to us they were fired for performance even though they were not on a PIP and received no prior indication that their jobs were potentially on the line.

One senior manager, who was let go but is allowed to stay on until Dec. 31, told us: “I was told by my project partner that the layoff is not performance-related.”

A senior in SaT (strategy and transaction), whose last day with the firm was Sept. 8, told us: “I had no PIP, no warning. When I called my SMs and managers after to break the news, they were shocked, as was I. It’s frustrating to hear EY touting the ‘we aren’t doing layoffs’ but stealthily doing them. At least the severance package is nice but fml. Wonderful end to all the years of wrecking my health for a company that could less about their employees.”

About those severance packages—well, that’s something we really didn’t report on last week. The senior in SaT, who worked at EY for four years, received four weeks of severance. Another person, who worked at EY for three years and was about to become a senior 2, said “they’re giving me a month’s pay, plus another $1k.”

A third person said (s)he will be receiving severance but has “no clue” how much yet:

They indicated during the meeting I’d receive 2-4 weeks; however, I followed up with the HR rep afterward to confirm, and HR indicated it would depend. When I asked what the conditional criteria would be, the HR rep went offline.

And the EY senior manager whose last day is Dec. 31 said their severance situation is “a little bit complicated,” but here’s how this person said it works:

  • I am an EY employee with client responsibilities through December 31, 2020 at the latest. If I do not find another job before then I will continue to be paid my current salary. After December 31, 2020 I am on my own with no additional severance from EY.
  • If I find another job and leave EY before October 31, 2020, EY will pay me a lump sum equal to my salary from my date of departure through October 31.
  • If I find another job and leave EY between November 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, EY will pay me nothing beyond what they will have already paid me.

If we find out any additional severance package information, we’ll update this post.

[Updated on Sept. 2 with additional information.]

On Monday evening we got a text on the tipline from an EY employee in New York who has kept us in the loop the past several months on all things black and yellow:

EY is stealthily laying off people. Three friends, who are seniors, got calls from partners today. They claimed it to be performance based. However, while those people who were not on PIP got fired, some people who are on the improvement program were not let go.

Yesterday, the chatter sites were all abuzz with posts about layoffs at EY. On Fishbowl, one poster claimed those being let go are “solid performers who are utilized,” and apparently multiple people posted on the EY Bowl (invite only) that they were being kicked to the curb.

Right now it looks like the alleged job cuts are affecting EYers who work in tax and risk.

More of the same on r/accounting, except one Redditor wrote that the EYers who are being impacted are “getting a phone call and told their last day is ‘x’ day.” Another Redditor commented that a couple people they know were told their last day would be Friday.

Now, this is all hearsay at this point. I emailed EY public relations for confirmation/comment and have yet to hear back from anyone.

Also we have yet to hear from anyone at EY who has actually confirmed that they are losing their job. And I haven’t seen anyone post on Fishbowl or r/accounting yet that they are being laid off.

So, if you’ve been told you have a meeting later this week with a partner and HR (or if you’ve had that uncomfortable chat with them already), please get in touch with us using the contact information below.

[UPDATE] We’ve been told that not only are the layoffs happening but they are not just contained to tax and risk. One EY employee not impacted by the job cuts told us:

It has moved to technology consulting as well. Seasoned veterans (not by age but by skill set) have been let go and not because their performance declined but because of favoritism towards a less performing individual. The performance review has been rigged to a point where those that didn’t meet expectations have been given a free pass and those who escalated it have received a ding.

Since we originally posted this article on Tuesday afternoon, we’ve heard from several individuals who have been impacted. One EYer, along with two other individuals in this person’s consulting area, was told their last day at EY would be this Friday.

I know 3 total including me. Senior and manager level. No PIPs. No warning of terms either.

EY needs to be called out on lying to public about terms. Promote 73 new partners then secretly lay off stating it’s for performance issues.

It just so happens that people were told they were losing their jobs on the same day that EY announced its new partner and executive director promotions. Nothing like rubbing salt into these people’s wounds.

Another person told us:

I got the termination notice last week. I am a very experienced senior manager (very close to promotion) with a very solid performance in my 9 years of EY career. It came as a shock to me.

What seems to be pissing off those impacted by the job cuts the most is the message that was sent by the firm’s leadership for the past several months—that there wouldn’t be layoffs, just the usual performance-based separations. But the people who have contacted us said their performance had never been an issue when speaking with their counselors or bosses.

One person told us:

I was let go last week along with at least two other colleagues. I am in tax. I was told it was performance but I get great feedback. I am definitely not on a PIP.

Another person told us that during their year-end counselor discussion/review about a month ago, (s)he received great feedback and would be promoted to senior manager.

However, on Tuesday, August 25th (i.e. only weeks after the promotion discussion), I received an unexpected request for a call from the same counselor with the subject line “Performance Discussion.” An HR representative was on the call as well.

The call was brief where the counselor told me, “This call is to inform you that the firm will be terminating your employment effective 9/8 for performance.” The HR representative then read me what I need to do as part of my separation and how any violations will have legal consequences.

I asked for an explanation as to how my performance changed from qualifying me for a promotion to resulting in my termination. The counselor indicated that he will reach out to me to schedule another call to discuss it. I have not heard from him since.

I reached out to another partner with whom I worked most of last year but he was not able to provide any additional details and told me how sorry he is that this is happening to me.

Since COVID-19 started, we were told by Kelly Grier (EY’s US Chair and Managing Partner) on the monthly calls that the firm has taken necessary steps to avoid layoffs and that performance based terminations will be delayed until September which I guess explains the framing of these terminations as performance based rather then layoffs.

But I worked inhumane hours to qualify for this promotion and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue as a result. So it was disheartening to receive this news and especially in the format it was delivered with zero compassion or appreciation.

We still haven’t received an official response yet from EY about the layoffs. But a person who emailed us claiming to have worked at EY since 2011 and who says (s)he has spent the past four years in various HR and enablement functions called the stories told to us by EYers impacted by the job cuts “baseless and inconsistent with EY’s termination process, at any rank.” (Italicized emphasis added by this person, not GC.)

For starters, an individual’s counselor or manager does not have the ability to fire (or lay off) anyone. All performance-related deficiencies must go through the Talent Consultants (HR organization) to ensure proper documentation and approval by General Counsel. There are many hurdles to terminating an employee for cause (firing) as well as to lay off (RIF/reduction in work force) which includes ample time for that individual to find another role on another team. I know this because I have hired some and I have had RIFs myself.

In addition, the “Feedback process being rigged” is also incorrect; each individual is responsible for selecting feedback providers; no one can provide feedback unless they are specifically invited to do so. If I select 10 of my peers as feedback providers to state I have done a great job, it does not mean that is correct. Partner/Executive Director feedback is critical. There are plenty of people with good feedback that are performing a mediocre job relative to their peer group. Case in point, a staff may be wonderful at scheduling meetings and doing expense reports, but that should not be their primary accolade.

Lastly – the fact that there are still Partner and Director promotions speaks to performance-related reward, which is still in place. A handful of seniors or managers could never offset enough budget for the 600+ global promotions that have occurred – it is mathematically impossible.

In short – this article is complete disinformation by a few disgruntled employees with no personal sense of accountability. If they were going to be laid off, that’s what it would be – a lay off. If they’re fired, it’s for cause.

This person also called Going Concern a “shitty rag” and a “garbage forum … where broken toys go to congregate and you don’t have a single credible writer, contributor, or viewing audience.”

Our feelings are now hurt.We’ll keep updating this article as we receive more information.

24 thoughts on “Layoff Watch ’20: Apparently It’s Doomsday for Some at EY (UPDATE)

  1. Well darn, I am currently studying accounting but have very good experience in working these roles and had planned on applying to the big four once I graduate. Guess not anymore, I’ve seen plenty YT videos and read many articles of how stressing it is to work for these companies. Although I have not experienced it myself, my SIL who is a senior accountant told me it’s not worth it, since she experienced it herself. I am sorry, but I rather get paid less and live a happy life with work life balance, than kill myself for a company that can easily find a replacement and to whom I mean nothing. Even the hospital I work for has their employees to higher regards. I mean honestly, they gave us all the oportunities to redeploy to other departments in order to not have to lay anyone off, and the people who don’t meet their productivity are given the chance to look for other positions. You would expect such a big firm to at least be considerate with their people. I really dodged a bullet. Thank you for this!

  2. This is not surprising and it happens in a lot of countries where EY operates, including in Asia.

    There was a situation in SaT (Strategy and Transaction) where a woman (manager) had slept around with multiple partners and she was let off from Performance Improvement Program after these partners intervened, hence keeping her job. This was well-known on the floor, as the partners who slept with the said woman had joked around casually about it.

    There was another situation in the same department where another female manager had been labelled as star consultant during performance round table despite only recently flanked an engagement with a major government fund, just because she had special relationship with the lead partner (who was now her protector) and had transferred from another department to SaT also under the reference of this partner.

    But these are not the only exceptions, sexual favouritism is rampant in EY and you could see many partners preying on junior colleagues to have one night stands or sexual fun.

    Systems are just for show; there is literally no avenue to report sexual harassment – as eventually partners protect each other and the reporter would face consequence for reporting the incident. Even performance management systems are never followed; some departments do the performance “outside of the systems” and refer to “other sets of criteria” for promotion and performance evaluation. However if you had met all criteria for promotion and had done well, you might not be promoted as there would be new “criteria” that were never briefed to you before that would be cited as the reason for your “non-promotion”. Common such reasons heard include, “hardly spent time with colleagues outside work”, “did not spend time outside full time engagement work on additional business development proposal pursuits”, “never received strong recommendation from junior members of the team” etc.

    Performance had never counted, even if you manage to bring in large accounts and engagements for the company.

    Skin colour and sexual relationship count, way more important that working hard for the company.

  3. I brought in a major account from my previous consulting firm as a director – more than $5M in revenue… did not get a promotion before the Senior Partner forgot to put my name on the list – go figured! Do not work for any of the tier 1 or 2 firms unless you are an experienced hire and have definite goals on what you want to achieve in your time as it will always need time and effort. For graduates, there are other corporates and SMEs who can offer as much training and different variety of assignments – remember variety is not about you doing the same old stuff for multiple clients. Corporate governance systems are not respected by partners because it is a partnership – there will always be some bad eggs…look at what Rio Tinto did – blew up a priceless historical site in Australia…didn’t the IS blow up priceless historical sites? Tread Your Own Path.

    1. I worked my ass off @ EY Central America for 3 years, I got promoted to Senior 1 this year and after a week of being senior, my HRBP gave me a call to tell me that I was being fired for performance, where I was never told that I had any performance issues nor even on a PIP. Value yourself and never work for them.

  4. My husband was fired this week from EY for performance. Of course his four year stint at the firm yielded all great end of year reviews and no PIP. He did have 16 weeks of paternity leave to start in October… and his last day is now when that was supposed to start. He is on a billable project (consulting side) right now and is leading it, his team is shocked, client is pissed. It’s fishy and seems like maybe they wanted him out because of the leave…. of course hard to prove that.

  5. I believe EY Sr Manager employment agreements provide for 3 months of notice or an upfront lump sum payment for separation without cause. Usually in a termination situation its a lump sum payment, so I tend to agree with the sentiment that these aren’t performance related issues.

  6. WOWWW!!! I just happened to come across this article today because I am a recent victim of getting let go from EY today without any warning but was told it was because my performance was below my peer group. Is there some script the people up top are reading from??

    Quick story about me. I been at EY for 2 years and 2 months and things started off shaky getting adjusted to the firm straight out of college and everything. My first engagement was hell. We had to fly to Boston then drive for an hour to the client site. I was treated poorly and even experienced discrimination on this project where people from another country (if you worked at EY you know who) were speaking in their language in front of me and were laughing as I was trying to receive help. I ended up reporting the manner and two weeks later I was rolled off the project and of course the rigged feedback system came back to haunt me. BUT WAIT. The person who was leading the project was the husband of my senior manager at my original office so by me speaking up about the project and possibly making him look bad they rolled me off the project. Eventually I got put on a PIP because of this project.

    Okay fast forward some months later, I networked my way to another project and was doing great but then the pandemic happened and because of budget issues they rolled me and some others off the project.

    My senior manager said I received great feedback from the project and deleted our meeting off the calendar which was for the PIP to check my progress.

    Fast forward a few months later, our PPED sends a random calendar invite and immediately tells me, “This is a difficult conversation but today is your last day with the firm because your performance is below your peer group. Your separation letter will be emailed to you.” WHAT??? No warning or anything. I was lost for my words as the talent director was going through all the documents I need to sign and the four week and vacation thing along with the two month search for work thing. This is insane!!! I’m just glad to see I’m not the only one. I was just a staff.

    1. It appears to be difficult to work with you in a team; you appear to complain a lot and are not a team player. So no wonder you were let go

    2. You’re whining about having to fly to a major city and then having to drive a relatively short amount to see a client? That’s how business works. If that is “hell” for you, then this is clearly not the right career path for you. Grow up

    3. You feel discriminated when your colleagues speak a foreign language in front of you? Dude! You should be fired for sure. How about ey send you to another country for a project?

  7. On today’s webcast they said that senior managers were talked to before any lay offs but i and many others have not been talked to or given heads up. Not sure why senior management keeps on saying that. Seems like something got lost in the whole process as most high performing SMs were not talked to by their line partners and were still promised a path forward. They talk about lower performers and that they were on a PIP but you could still be laid off even without being on a PIP. What is then the point about having a PIP process? The SMs they laid off had excellent performance evidenced by their performance dashboards and feedbacks, Sales and utilization. I don’t think it is fair to say that those are labeled as low performer and have to live with the trauma of being part of a performance based lay offs. They should just be honest to also acknowledge that the business has changed and SMs have been promised something they could not keep and it does feel like they were led on but that was not on purpose.

  8. Kelly said that people were laid off who were good performers but just below the peers. My dashboard and my metrics have been above my peer – nicely documented – and still got laid off and never had any performance based discussions and was told by my counselor I was on track with my path forward just a few weeks before all happened. Very confusing messaging. Some partners acknowledged that this is not performance based and can’t fully comprehend what is going on for certain individuals.

  9. The function of this website, Going Concern, is to damage as far as possible the larger audit firms. It is their competitive strategy as small industry participant.

  10. After working for 4.5 years with EY i got an meeting invite from a random partner for ‘ performace discussion” on 27th of August whcih ws scheduled for 28th and the whole day i was nervous as i heard the story from a collegue in the other division in the same office that how she was laid off last week. Next day when i logged in and joined the meeting it turned out to be the ‘Lay off Call’ and the first thing i asked is how this is performance discussio? when there is no discussion, to my knowledge discussion is two sided and we discuss performace and corrective measures if there are any area to improve under the so called Constructive feedback policy, but the partner started off with saying ‘ Its going to be a hard discussion as we have just wrapped up the performace reviews and you are not up the level of others so today is your last day and the talent person who joined the call will do the exit list and if i have any questions? So i asked what about the performance discussion?? whcih never happened to my knowledge my last discussion with my counsoler and partners i was working my life off from last 4.5 years gave no indications or gave no negative feedbacks ever, I even asked for the normal person to know if he is not doing good the parameters will be counsoler/manager/partner anyone ever tells you you are not doing good and what about the promotions i got and salary rise in last 2 years which were in tune of 36% salary rise plus close to 15-16 bravo aswards in last 3 years so i was thinking taht i am doing good, apart from the other initiviatives which EY markets that are very important like diversity & Inclusiveness and EY connect days or EY Mentors for underprivalaged kids or EY Dress for success events, i particapted in all and some events i drove it in my local office for 4 years with the Senior manager from other group and office managing partner i did every thing classic EY text book told me to do to create an impact and be successful. but in the end what explanation i got was ‘ we understand but the salary raise and braov awards and PBB i received has nothing to do with performance if firm do good they give it to anyone and i was surprised as i thought all that time that they are tied to performance like all other organizations but feels like EY is running a charity that if the firm do good give double digit annual raises and so called Performance Based Bonus to everyone has nothing to do with performance. And the cherry on the cake is some random partner is explaning you all thin whom you have never worked with and saying that they understand is all BS. I really thought that i will make a successful carrer at EY and will make a difference but when they put me in the choppoing block like that without a chance to even do something about it makes me think of all the BS they talk about making a working world a better place.

  11. My experiences are echoing everyone else’s. I got a meeting invite from my counselor for a year-end performance discussion at 3 PM and was out by 6 PM. I got worried and pinged him and he said we’d talk later. Dialed in to see his face and then HR joined. I knew i was done right there. Partner delivered the news in 5-10 minutes and then left it to HR. After 9.5 years it boiled down to a 3 hrs meeting with HR showing me the door. Partner I’ve worked for the whole time couldn’t even say good bye.

    I’ve spoken to various people who were let go and the consistent thread is two things: 1) it’s a script the partners are reading and they may my not have input, and 2) your LEAD dials on the dash board were below your the “peer average number”. This has to be how the firm justified calling it “performance based separation”. It doesn’t seem they took into consideration any human comments provided in the reviews..

    IMO, and many others, the whole LEAD system is a black box. Over the 2-3 years it’s been in use no one has accurately communicated how to interpret it or use the tool. When my arrow is between 9-10 o’clock with glowing human comments, and the peer average is between 10 and 11 o’clock, then something broken. I wasn’t gold standard, but I was above average. In my time at EY never have I ever been close to a PIP, nor have i received negative comments from superiors, clients, or other engagement teams. I received a handful of phone calls from all levels and they all said I was the preferred sr manager to work for and learn from. I absolutely no justification for effectively saying, your performance has been so bad we need to fire you immediately and not give you a PIP.

    Long story short, like a lot of people, is I feel lied too and would have been able to stomach this more if they simply said this is COVID lay-offs. The way this was carried out is extremely distasteful and straddles the line of wrongful termination in certain circumstances. I do hope this turns into a class action or something similar because they’re speaking out both sides of their mouth.

  12. Agree with with everyone above. Senior in Tax, excellence reviews. I never received a bad review. I ended up being let go Sept 10th because of “performance”. HR was unable to answer my questions as to why I was being let go when I raised my points regarding my good reviews. I was given 4 weeks of pay and 1k.
    EY does not care for their employees, stay away!

  13. Reading these horror stories make me so glad to be done with the Big 4. I got out years ago as a SM, and the environment wasn’t nearly as bad as what I’m reading about now. It sounds absolutely hellish.

  14. I had the same experience as all above. Partner couldn’t answer the questions regarding performance separation and the only answer I got was to data driven in the dashboard no one knows how to read. I also, asked to speak with the ED I worked with my entire career to say bye and thank for everything, and I was told I wasn’t allowed to do that either. This requested denial got me so aggravated, HR had to ask the partner for permission to do so, all because ED didn’t know anything about the separation.

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