EY oversees training procedures and terminates staff members.
EY terminates numerous staff in the U.S. for attending multiple online sessions during a training period, drawing skepticism from employees. They find the explanation weak.
Multi-tasking accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) dismissed numerous employees for attending numerous online courses mandated by the company during "EY Ignite Learning Week" in May as per Financial Times reports. The dismissals were announced last week.
EY provides annual training offering 40 mandatory courses, including topics like "Assessing your digital market standing" and "Communicating with AI: One question at a time."
EY accused the employees of cheating and justified the dismissals as an ethical breach, stating, "Our core values of integrity and ethics guide everything we do." However, this left employees perplexed.
"I was trying to attend as many courses as I could," said one affected employee. The company's promotional emails encouraged this, and all employees work with three monitors. "I was seeking new ideas to distinguish myself from my colleagues," explained one of the terminated employees.
EY has a "culture of multitasking," with daily work hours often exceeding 45 per week, according to one employee, and another reported conducting video calls with multiple clients simultaneously. "If simultaneous training is unethical, then so is this," they argued.
One course at a time from now on
The terminated employees also complained about the lack of warning. According to the FT, an additional clause was only included in the August training program email invitation, stating explicitly: "It is expected that you complete this learning activity with integrity, including attendance at all content and interactions in the classroom" and "You should not participate in other learning units during the conduct of this activity."
EY introduced its rigorous training program following a series of cheating scandals in employee exams in 2017 and 2021, where answers were passed between examinees. EY's leadership concealed this from regulators. Similar incidents were also reported at competitors Deloitte, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which, along with EY, are part of the Big Four in the industry. EY faced the highest fine ever in 2022, paying regulators $100 million for failing to report the violations.
EY's strict policy on attending multiple online sessions during their training period, as seen in the dismissals of several employees, emphasizes the importance they place on education within the company. Despite expressing their intent to attend as many courses as possible to distinguish themselves, the terminated employees were accused of cheating and faced consequences, highlighting the company's commitment to upholding its values of integrity and ethics.
