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Ernst & Young Wasn’t About to Let Some Civil Fraud Charges Put a Damper on Their Holiday Season

A trusted source emailed us that things were getting festive last night:

EY had their FSO party last night at Cipriani’s downtown. Used to be at Tavern on the Green.


This is good news. And not just because this is an upgrade from last year’s party. Despite all the bad press the firm is getting, the celebration will go on! It must go on! Now whether the Governor-elect was aware of this and purposefully decided to make a few people’s hangovers a little worse by filing the charges today, we can’t possibly know (but he does seem to have an innate sense of timing).

What we would like to find out is the mood at this fiesta. Were there a lot of long faces, grumbling about Hank Paulson, weeping in their single malts? OR did people manage to convince themselves that this whole thing is NBD and people had a good time – enjoying the open bar, power smoking Cohibas, making awkward sexual advances, partners dancing?

We need, and the people demand details, so if you were at the party email us the details.

Layoff Watch ’10: More Details on Ernst & Young

Thumbnail image for ey8ball.jpgWe have some additional details to share with you to supplement last Friday’s post on E&Y’s New Year layoffs.
While we were surprised at the timing, a source has indicated to us that IT Risk and Assurance layoffs have occurred at the firm each January since 2008. This is due to a serious drop off in utilization in the new year after high utilization in the fall months with the exception of especially in the audit heavy ITRA practices.
In regards to the audit practice, we spoke to another source over the weekend that told us that layoffs would not occur until after busy season but assured us that they are being planned.
Finally, in response to one comment asking about severance details, we were informed that the severance for those let go is a week’s pay for each year of service with a minimum of 4 weeks pay. This seems to be fairly standard (with a few variations) amongst the Big 4.
We’ve received word on some positions cut but we’re still awaiting further details so if you have any information or can provide more insight discuss below or get in touch and we’ll update them here.
UPDATE: A source has indicated that three IT Advisory managers in FSO in New York were included in the cuts.