EY reviews

E&Y has mastered the art of doublespeak. They make so many claims -- work life balance, compensation, growth, communication, interesting variety of work, "people first"...and with the voracity and redundancy by which they make the claims, you might actually believe them to be true. Unfortunately, none of it is true. Building on the Orwellian tradition doublespeak, the firm policies foster a form of Groupthink that is easily nurtured in an environment of 80-90 hour work weeks, sleep deprivation, stifling dress code, and intense competition that is in itself the result of an opaque performance rating system. Working at the firm is like sliding down the looking glass and waking up a year later like Gregor Samsa in Kafka's The Metamorphosis -- a giant insect trapped inside your cube with a diminishing personality, empty sense of self, and about a dozen legs flailing helplessly in the air, unable to escape. To those of you such as myself with a JD, go work at a law firm. You will earn at least 3 times as much. I just wish someone would have told me all of this before I signed the dotted line.

TL;DR: Recommend the job for the experience and the EY name; however, management and leadership is poor. This review is not intended to be a smear piece and is meant to provide context to some of the extremely negative reviews regarding the Service Delivery Center (SDC) and Regulatory Compliance/Financial Crimes Associate Analyst position. As a current employee I almost did not apply because of some bad reviews and want to further elaborate given that I did accept the position. I do still recommend this position as described in the “Pros” section; however, below are some things to keep in mind. 1) Micromanaging and poor overall management is a significant factor in my dissatisfaction with EY. Although long hours are expected, 50–60-hour weeks are often worked in vain due to poor project management and are often announced last minute. So be prepared to sacrifice your early mornings or evenings to reach the hourly goal. As far as micromanaging, the team leads are constantly contacting you that often distracts from progress. Also, promises of early days are lies and disingenuous as much as leadership promises and does not deliver. 2) Inconsistency is another issue. A solid tip is to become a favorite and get your name out there as it is obvious that certain people receive lighter workloads on a regular basis. Otherwise, you may end up with large and complex cases that hinder your performance as far as speed is concerned. I understand this is a reality in many places; however, it is detrimental to morale and often hurts team dynamics. It is also annoying when “Teaming” is thrown around like Oprah gives out gifts. 3) Additional general issues: You will often hear phrases such as “Wellbeing,” “Work Life Balance,” “Teaming,” and other phrases; however, I have seen no effort to make these goals attainable. Expect empty platitudes. You will be assigned a counsellor (although I wouldn’t call them one) where scripted boxes are checked off and grievances are brushed off. Attrition rates are also high as my counsellor informed me that a decent amount (don't know if I can say the number here) leave within a year. Morale is known to be low as well and no effort is seen from leadership to improve. Looking back when I was applying last year, I brushed off some of the negative reviews here thinking the employees that left them were sour, lazy, or had other reasons to exaggerate. However, as exaggerated as they may have been, unfortunately, there was a decent amount of truth. I would still recommend applying as working here is a decent steppingstone and EY is a great company to work for and have on your resume. Just keep these in mind these points as expectations; go in with an open mind; be a decent worker, and it is a solid full-time job for a recent graduate. I never really leave negative reviews, but EY has a reputation to uphold and there is a lot of false advertising for what the lower levels are like.