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Firm wants to know about racism, bullying, sexual harassment, workload pressure and alcohol at team events in the wake of last year’s suicide.
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EY staff shun internal workplace culture survey due to ID links
09 May 2023
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10 minute read
An internal EY survey on workplace culture in the wake of last year’s staff suicide has failed to muster sufficient responses because employees realised they could be identified, sources have told Accountants Daily.
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The survey, part of the firm’s self-examination following the 11th floor plunge of auditor Aishwarya Venkatachalam after a work event in August, quizzed staff on topics including racism, bullying, sexual harassment, pressure to work after hours, and the consumption of alcohol at team functions.
But the firm was forced into an embarrassing deadline extension from April 28 to May 5 after “we have not had as many responses as we would like” according to an internal email seen be Accountants Daily.
“We really need to hear from more of you to ensure the survey truly reflects the view of all staff,” the email says.
“By taking part, you are helping us represent the experiences of different groups within EY Oceania in this important Cultural Review.”
However, a source said the survey had a unique URL and informed staff that they were identifiable to EY.
“The fact it acknowledges that you are identifiable to EY via a unique link is enough to put people off,” they said. “They had to beg people to do the survey. What a surprise, not many people did it.”
Sources said reluctance to engage with the EY internal survey stood in stark contrast to the reception for an independent review of the firm’s workplace culture being conducted by consultancy Elizabeth Broderick & Co.
EY spokesperson Melanie Kent told Accountants Daily that there had been “high engagement from our people” with the Broderick review and “we’re really happy that people have been willing to share their views”.
Sources within the firm confirmed that so many people wanted to be interviewed for the independent review it was “oversubscribed”. Some were turned away and encouraged to fill in the internal survey instead.
The Broderick team also had no problem finding former employees who wanted to talk, the sources said.
They said EY staff had grown increasingly anxious and female staff in particular had become concerned over safety following the absence of any findings about the suicide last August.
Spokesperson Ms Kent said staff safety was always a priority.
“We will always take the safety and wellbeing of our people as an utmost priority,” she said.
“We’ll take any expressions of concern really seriously and do our best to address them.”
She said the firm was committed to making the Broderick report public and it was due “within weeks”, but EY had been advised not to comment in the meantime.
“The advice we’ve been given is that it’s best not to comment until we get the reports.”
“We are working really hard to address all of the issues that have been raised and to take to make sure that we come out with something that's going to look after our people.”
Sources said the mood at EY had been influenced by the recent failure of plans to split the firm into separate audit and consultancy arms, with concerns that job losses would follow.
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