Staff at ‘big four’ consulting firm EY report bullying, harassment and racism amid workplace culture review

EY staff feel bullied, overworked and afraid to speak up.

Māori staff are found to have experienced racism at higher rates than any other group at EY Oceania, according to an internal review into workplace culture at the ‘big four’ consulting firm.

The report, commissioned to improve the firm’s workplace following the death of a worker in the firm’s Sydney office last year, revealed staff concerns about bullying, harassment and overworking by partners and senior management.

It also said staff felt scared to report bad behaviour because it might harm their careers.

The 142-page report included a voluntary anonymous survey of more than 4000 workers and other consultation measures within the firm’s Oceania region operations.

Complaints ranged from long work hours to management practices and corporate culture.

Fifteen per cent of staff reported bullying over the past five years, 10 per cent reported sexual harassment and 8 per cent reported racism at the firm.

Māori staff filed the most complaints in relation to racism, with more than one in five (21 per cent) reporting their experience at EY in the last five years, and approximately one in seven (16 per cent) in the last 12 months.

They were also less likely to agree that ‘racist jokes and comments are rare in my workplace’ (61 per cent compared with 87 per cent overall) and that ‘racism is not tolerated’ (70 per cent agreed, compared with 88 per cent overall).

Fewer than half of Māori agreed that EY Oceania is ‘inclusive of people from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander and/or Māori background’ (48 per cent, compared with 69 per cent overall), and that ‘complaints about bullying, sexual harassment and racism are taken seriously’ (48 per cent, compared to 67 per cent overall).

While the report found the vast majority of staff and partners felt safe and believed people “behaved in a respectful manner towards others” at the firm, those “positive experiences are not equally experienced by all”, with women and minority groups most likely to “experience lower levels of safety and inclusion in EY Oceania”.

The review was commissioned after 27-year-old Indian-Australian auditor Aishwarya Venkatachalam took her own life at EY’s Sydney office on August 27.

“Long working hours and overwork are a critical issue, having a negative impact on individual wellbeing, team cohesion and retention, with 46 per cent reporting that their health has been negatively affected as a result, and two in five people considering quitting,” a summary of the report said.

It highlighted that 31 per cent of EY Oceania staff were working 51 or more hours in a week, at least one week out of every four; approximately one in 10 (11 per cent) were working 61 or more hours in a week, at least one week out of every four.

“There is a relatively high level of confidence that EY Oceania can address many of the issues explored in the review, with 78 per cent feeling confident the organisation will make meaningful change in relation to sexual harassment, 74 per cent in relation to racism, and 70 per cent in relation to bullying.

“However, only 31 per cent of people are confident EY Oceania can change a culture of long work hours and overwork.”

One survey comment said Māori experienced racism on a “regular basis” at EY but complaints were not well-handled.

“Reporting and addressing incidents of racist remarks and micro-aggressions that occur in day-to-day interactions is difficult. I find when we raise the issue with those involved, it is most likely to be met with a sense of offence and defensiveness. The response diminishes the experience of the victim, and implies that the victim is the one being difficult and overly sensitive,” the respondent said.

Another Māori staff member commented: “A lot of the kaupapa we work on is about serving our people. We care about the impact. We care about the deliverables. When things happen on the EY side that jeopardise that impact – that’s an additional thing that Māori carry. EY has old ways of working, such as projects driven by time pressure, that jeopardise [our ability] to design solutions that will serve our society.”

The review made 27 recommendations to improve the firm’s workplace, including reducing excessive hours through more accurate project scoping, resourcing and costing; increasing accountability for staff retention by charging the costs of excessive turnover to service lines; and revising key performance metrics to emphasise the importance of diversity and inclusion.