When accounting goes unaccounted for
Do you see what happens?
Of course we kid (some of you have no sense of humor). We actually haven’t heard what is happening to the Irish lads as the investigation is rumored to be still on-going. But this could explain what PwC did with a large portion of their swag when the new logo rolled out.
If you happen across this guy, get him a seat at the New York Thanksgiving soirée (location still unknown), wouldja?
This just in:
Was communicated a spot bonus yesterday, PwC Tax. $4k as a senior. I have never received a spot bonus anywhere near this size. I think instead of mid-year salary adjustments, they are giving enhanced spot bonuses to the higher performers. This is in addition to the “ipad or cash” extravaganza from earlier this month.
PwC is really buttering some people up, aren’t they? Either it’s going to be a rough 2011 or the good times are really back. If you’ve received similar news this week, do share or get in touch and we’ll keep things rolling here.
Earlier:
Bonus Watch ‘10: PwC Announces Across the Board Mid-year Bonuses
We kid, we kid. The lid being blown off PwC Email Hottiegate probably has a few people down in the dumps but it’s more likely that Ireland’s Greece impersonation is what has the country’s accountants wallowing in their sorrows.
Irish accountants are more pessimistic than their international counterparts about the future of the economy, according to a new global survey.
Only about a quarter of Irish accountants, surveyed by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), believed the global economy was in, or close to, recovery and more than half believed it would remain stagnant for some time yet.
This is much more pessimistic than the global view where less than half believed that conditions were stagnating or deteriorating. With regards to business confidence, Irish respondents continued to report falling confidence, but only marginally so, with 32 per cent reporting a loss of confidence and 27 per cent reporting gains.
Irish accountants more pessimistic than their peers [The Post]
Considering this hunk of metal and glass has been empty since before the Iraq War started, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed could probably muster a little more enthusiasm than this:
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said Wednesday that he was “excited” that PwC was staying in San Jose.
Something along the lines of “OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! PwC, we are so grateful that you saved this building from becoming overrun by cobwebs and rats plus, it won’t be the laughingstock of our skyline anymore!”
No, Mayor Reed kept things fairly tepid:
“It’s a big relief for me,” said Reed. “I was worried about a major tenant moving out of downtown.”
Plus, you know, having this eyesore remain empty for a few more years.
It was quiet yesterday on the PwC Email Hottiegate beat as nothing new was reported out Ireland except that the country may or may not be going the way of Greece. Thank God we can set aside all this fiscal sovereignty stuff and get back the really important issues.
The latest from the Emerald Isle is that the young ladies in question were considering lawsuits against the dudes in question but now according to the Irish Central that won’t be happening:
The 13 women, who were trainees up to last Friday are not going to pursue legal action against the males in question responsible for the rating system.
It is believed last week that they may file sexual harassment charges against those involved but it is being reported that the apprentices are more interested in getting their careers off the ground and focusing on their new jobs.
The report also states that five of the male associates have been suspended, which is two more than initial reports last week. As for the ultimate fate of the offenders, it doesn’t sound like anyone is screaming “off with their heads!”
“The email was unacceptable and childish but no one in here thinks it should be a sackable offence,” a source within PwC told the Sunday Tribune.
“It happens in here every year.
“But it also happens at all the other big accountancy firms and solicitors firms both in Ireland and abroad.
So using work email to pass around pictures of co-workers ranking them by hotness and including sexist comments as long as it remains in the confines of the company is an annual tradition but once it gets outside the company, it’s unacceptable and childish behavior. Got it.
Caleb likes to turn to me for all matters female-related (pay, the work-life lie, etc), so he asked if I would skip my CPA exam column today – since none of you sent me any questions to answer anyway – and give my opinion on the stupid PwC Ireland dbags who spread around pics of hotties.
“Sure,” I said, sharpening my claws.
First, have we NOT told you people over and over again DON’T USE WORK EMAIL FOR DEBAUCHERY AND GENERAL ASSHATTERY?! Speaking only for myself, I have specifically written here and on JDA at least a bazillion or more times warning of the dangers of sloppy conduct in a manner completely traceable by management, colleagues and clients.
What is it going to take to get this through your heads? I remind all of you that after Enron blew up every single email was made public by the Justice Department (and if you’re bored, you can search through said emails here but I warn you, some are gross and graphic even to me) so don’t think what you do on the company PP&E is limited to whomever you copy on your piggish emails.
And remember, with snitches everywhere, everyone has our email address and as obviously demonstrated by this whole PwC hottie email being sent to us first, chances are if you’re acting like an ass we’re going to find out and embarrass you. Call it our way of continuing to protect the public interest even though Caleb is retired from the profession and I am but an enthusiastic outsider without a CPA.
Second, I really don’t care if pigs decide to rank women in their office by hotness but if you’re going to do it, man up and attach cockshots so the girls can do their own ranking. You know, in the interest of fairness. If you’re not willing to apply the same sick standard to your own goods while contemplating the goods of your coworkers, leave the immature ranking to the bar and not extensive email chains. Seriously. If any of the PwC Hottie perps care to redeem themselves, cockshots may be addressed directly to me here. If I don’t receive any, I’ll assume that’s because you all are a bunch of shrunken cowards who aren’t getting any anyway.
Last but not least, don’t you guys have anything better to do? Seriously. This level of creepiness is just one level above stalking, frankly, and it is both disturbing and hilarious that these three PwC Ireland associates have absolutely nothing better to do than play Hot or Not on company time using company email. Can’t you just watch porn like SEC employees or play constant solitaire like normal folk wasting company time?
Sick. Entertaining and not all that offensive, just sick. I cannot speak for the rest of the female race and only for myself but I’m pretty sure many of them would also feel these idiots can possibly redeem themselves with cockshots. Commence to repentance, losers.
Creative spelling but you’ll get the idea.
FULL DISCLOSURE: the editor does not drive a Subaru.
~ Update includes full statement from PwC Ireland.
In case you’ve been in a coma for the last two-ish days, you’re aware of the email that originated inside PwC Ireland that more or less likened the new female associates to a BCS ranking. Said ranking was scored by hotness (instead of bullshit algorithms), it made the rounds as these things often do, found its way into various publications and well…at least it’s Friday, amiright?
The latest news out of Ireland is that three of the male associates have been suspended as the firm’s investigation continues.
Ronan Murphy, a “senior partner,” has issued a statement saying that he ‘deeply regrets’ the incident which .
And as the investigation continues, the firm has spread the word on the inside, as the report from The Journal of Ireland also states:
An internal company message has since been circulated by PwC bosses, warning that anyone who breached the company’s code of conduct and regulations would face “serious disciplinary action”.
As far as the top 10 13 ladies are concerned, there are reports that they are more upset with the media coverage than they are with the actual email.
We really don’t have any revenge ideas on that front but a little media backlash is always expected.
A spokesperson for PwC in the States forwarded us PwC Ireland’s full statement:
We refer to the article in yesterday morning’s Irish Independent relating to emails circulated within and outside of PwC. We first became aware of this matter on Tuesday evening . We are taking it extremely seriously and have commenced a full investigation which is ongoing. We are taking all of the necessary steps and actions in accordance with the Firm’s policies and procedures. Our main concern is the impact of this on the women who were the subject of these emails. We met with them a number of times to give them all of the support they may need in dealing with this. We are particularly concerned and appalled at the compounding effect of the publication of the women’s photographs in some of the papers this morning and last evening. PwC regrets this situation as it always requires its people to adhere to the highest level of standards in their conduct and behaviour.
As you might expect, there’s been a fair amount of outrage about the PwC Ireland Hottie List 2010. Revenge ideas are already being floated and we were pointed to the following comment over at Gawker (although we can’t seem to find it now):
If PricewaterhouseCoopers fails to act promptly and decisively on this, the women of the company have a couple of other ways to achieve justice.
My favorite is taking a full page ad in the business section of the leading newspapers… featuring corporate photos, titles, and marital status of the 17 men. The copy would say: “Instead of working on YOUR accounts, these men spend their time imagining their coworkers as sexual objects.”
The copy would be 100% true and provable, so it ought to get published. The wives, girlfriends, neighbors, and churchgoers can take it from there. Any of these men will find it harder to go on an out-of-town trip or stay late in the office without getting mangled in the wringer. And PWC will face questions about its billable hours.
If PWC still fails to act, the next ad can feature the same men, but the copy will say, “There were 13 people on their Top-10 List. Do you really want them auditing YOUR books?”
The 13/10 idea is quite brilliant and we suspect other firms (with the exception of KPMG) to capitalize on it immediately.
It’s been said “the best revenge is living well,” but since these ladies work at PwC, there’s virtually no chance of that. It’s also not clear at this time what firm the action is taking against the perps. Accordingly, some ideas from the peanut gallery are in order for revenge/punishment. Ideas might include:
1) Forced sobriety on the dudes in question.
2) Giving them the horrendous responsibility to respond to all the questions regarding the colors and shapes used in PwC’s new logo.
3) Send them to China with no language training.
That’s just to get your brains working. Leave suggestions below.
We kid, we kid. Obviously this was up prior to this year’s “Rank the Hotties 2010” email got loose as the old logo still lives on in Minneapolis.
Which begs the question, did the Twin Cities not get the memo on the launch? We don’t know if there is an internal disciplinary action for this sort of non-compliance but it does demonstrate a shocking lack of attention to detail.
You may or may not have heard already about a little email making the rounds in Ireland that originated inside PwC. A few dudes figured they would rate the female incoming associates and of course the thing went viral. PwC’s leadership in Ireland got wind of it and since this sort of thing is typically frowned upon, they are now investigating the matter.
It’s rumored that this ranking is a “tradition” inside the firm but if it sounds familiar, it should. Last year we reported on a similar contest that originated inside Del��������������������nders were reversed and there were creative categories like, “Most likely to sleep his way to partner.” This particular ranking is about as imaginative as you would expect from a bunch of dudes at PwC.
Because we’re the ambitious type, we thought we’d try to run down the email and photos and by the grace of the gossip Gods, our persistence paid off. After the jump, the email with the less-than-classy comments – including one guy asking his email to be removed if it the message was going to be forwarded – and the accompanying slideshow (sans names of course).
FW: This would be my shortlist for the top 10
O’Carroll, Richard (IE – Dublin)
to:
Ryan, Evan@Dublin, Mac Giolla Bhride, Jack (IE – Dublin), McInerney, Ruaidhri (IE – Dublin), Mark Gantly
27/10/2010 11:37
Show DetailsHistory: This message has been forwarded.
Delete my email signature etc if forward.
From: david.mcdonough@ie.pwc.com [mailto:david.mcdonough@ie.pwc.com]
Sent: 27 October 2010 11:27
To: Nolan, Alan (IE – Dublin); Burbridge, Gerard (IE – Dublin); James.Phelan@cbre.com; David.MacUileagoid@mercer.com; John.Murphy@hsoc.ie; Lord, Patrick (IE – Dublin)
Subject: Fw: This would be my shortlist for the top 10FYI. New clunge.
_____________________________________________________
David Mc Donough | Senior Associate | Asset Management |
pwc | One Spencer Dock | North Wall Quay | Dublin 1 | Ireland |
Direct (: + 353 1 792 5633 | Fax 7: + 353 1 792 6200 | E-mail *: david.mcdonough@ie.pwc.com—– Forwarded by David McDonough/IE/ABAS/PwC on 27/10/2010 11:26 —–
Stephen Tully/IE/ABAS/PwC
27/10/2010 10:19Dublin
IETo Colin Burke/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Dunne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gerard Somers/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, John Leonard/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Leon Nangle/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Maurice O’Brien/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Neil Collins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Patrick Meagher/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Pierce Kenny/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Robert E Byrne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Rory Bluett/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Paul G Cummins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Friel/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Mark Rochfort/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, David McDonough/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Stephen Doherty/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE
cc
Subject Fw: This would be my shortlist for the top 10Lads a couple added and also departments
____________________________________
Stephen Tully | Senior Associate | Asset Management Group
stephen.tully@ie.pwc.com
PricewaterhouseCoopers | Assurance
One Spencer Dock | Dublin 1 | Ireland |(: 353 -1-792-5793 | 7: 353-1-792-6200—– Forwarded by Stephen Tully/IE/ABAS/PwC on 27/10/2010 10:18 —–
Paul G Cummins/IE/ABAS/PwC
26/10/2010 17:17792 6087
To Stephen Tully/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE
cc Colin Burke/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Dunne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gerard Somers/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, John Leonard/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Leon Nangle/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Maurice O’Brien/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Neil Collins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Patrick Meagher/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Pierce Kenny/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Robert E Byrne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Rory Bluett/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Paul G Cummins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Friel/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Mark Rochfort/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE
Subject Re: This would be my shortlist for the top 10LinkGreat work…..have reservations about the last one getting in……
_____________________________________________________
Paul Cummins | Senior Associate | Asset Management |
pwc | One Spencer Dock | North Wall Quay | Dublin 1 | Ireland |
Direct (: + 353 1 792 6087 | Fax 7: + 353 1 792 6200 | E-mail *: paul.g.cummins@ie.pwc.comStephen Tully/IE/ABAS/PwC
26/10/2010 16:59Dublin
IETo Colin Burke/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Dunne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gerard Somers/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, John Leonard/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Leon Nangle/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Maurice O’Brien/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Neil Collins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Patrick Meagher/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Pierce Kenny/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Robert E Byrne/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Rory Bluett/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Paul G Cummins/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Gavin Friel/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE, Mark Rochfort/IE/ABAS/PwC@EMEA-IE
cc
Subject This would be my shortlist for the top 10
From the mailbag, courtesy of an E&Y senior associate:
I work for EY. Roommates are Deloitte and PWC. I’m hearing from the PWC employees that in addition to a holiday bonus, as well as a March compensation adjustment similar to Deloitte’s, PWC is also giving their employees the last two weeks of December off without requiring them to use their vacation days.
Thoughts on whether EY or KPMG will ante up? Hot topic at my client site today as you can imagine 🙂
Before we get to E&Y and KPMG, it should be noted that PwC is really playing hardball here. A quick recap:
• Mid-year bonuses that include an option for an iPad. Steve Jobs hater or not – that’s a cool bonus.
• Rumors of poaching seniors in Chicago and New York.
• New Yorkers given the option to shovel Thanksgiving sustenance at a Manhattan location to be named later (btw, we really want to know where, so get in touch with details when known).
• iPhones are now available and Christmaskuh festivities return.
Now there are rumors of a merit increase in March and two free weeks of time off? This is quite the run of employer gratitude. We won’t say “unprecedented” but it is an impressive show of generosity.
Maybe PwC has gone on this offensive because they had a kick-ass first quarter. Or maybe it’s because they lost the number one spot to Deloitte and they still want everyone to know that they’re still capable of equating love with money. OR maybe they’re trying to make people forget about Logogate. Whatever the motivation, the firm is throwing money around with the gusto of Charlie Sheen and they are getting a relative amount of attention for it.
Now, then – Ernst & Young and KPMG. Maybe these two firms are spreading the wealth on the Double-DL but if not, TPTB have to be aware of the what the competition is up to. If not, maybe someone should clue them in. Regardless, there has to be heat to act in some way.
One explanation for the House of Klynveld is that the fiscal year just ended, so it is too early for leadership to communicate “the great first quarter,” thus rationalizing a mid-year bonus. If KPMG comes out to soon with the news, they risk the “Monkey see” effect.
As far as E&Y is concerned, we’re stumped. They have the same fiscal year as PwC and should have a pret-tay good idea how Q1 went. Now that PwC has made the first move, any action by E&Y is going to look reactionary .
So for the E&Y and KPMG crowd – you clearly have some expectations for something but are you hearing anything about mid-year bonuses or will the belly aching continue into the holidays? Discuss below and get in touch with details.