A young woman has called out Australia’s top four consulting companies, claiming they create a ‘toxic and hyper competitive environment’ that push staff to breaking point.
The Big 4, as accounting giants Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, PwC and Deloitte are known, have been thrown into the spotlight this week following the tragic death of a senior EY associate in Sydney over the weekend.
The woman, now known to be 27 and not 33 as previously reported, was last seen alive at a secure outdoor terrace on the 10th floor of the EY tower in Sydney’s CBD around 12.30am on Saturday.
Many past and present workers have since spoken out about their experiences working at the well-known firms, claiming the stressful work culture prompted many to leave after just a couple of years.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the alleged culture at any of the companies listed contributed to the woman’s death.
Carla Efstratiou, who runs the TikTok ‘gowokegobrokeaus’ said she was ‘not surprised’ to hear about the tragedy at the weekend.
‘These companies have so much to answer for,’ she said.
‘They have created this toxic environment that is hypercompetitive, that demands inhumane long working hours that will send anyone over the edge.’
Ms Efstratiou said university graduates often sought out a job with the Big 4 due to their reputation, their flashy offices and the thought of working at a ‘prestigious’ company was too good to pass up.
The allegedly toxic environment at the Big 4 has been thrown into the spotlight by the tragic death of an EY worker in Sydney over the weekend (pictured, the company’s Sydney office)
Carla Efstratiou, who runs the TikTok account gowokegobrokeaus alleged there was a ‘toxic’ work culture at the Big 4 firms
‘Then you get there and you might get a free lunch and a city harbour view but at what cost?’ she said.
‘You are forced to stay there for 12 or 14 hours a day, you’re paid peanuts for the amount of work you’re actually doing and you’re surrounded by a cohort of egotistical narcissists who will stab you in the back.’
Ms Efstratiou said young staff needed to know the ‘demise of your mental health isn’t worth a spreadsheet’.
Her video, which has been viewed more than 380,000 times, was flooded with comments from many current and former staff.
‘I worked there. Hated it. Soul destroying. Never been treated so poorly by management,’ one commented.
Another said they had a ‘miserable’ internship experience at one of the major firms, and vowed to ‘never accept a full time offer’.
‘Worked at Big 4 for three years, my mental health almost made me give up on life. Leaving was one of the best decision I have ever made,’ another said.
‘As an ex (Big 4) manager I can tell you it is bad. Partners and senior managers ignore issues and HR wouldn’t help me either until after I resigned,’ one wrote.
Past and present staff at some of the Big 4 companies claim they were overworked for little pay, and many ‘burned out’ within a couple of years
One woman said she suffered her first ever panic attack at one of the firms.
‘You’ll never catch me working at Big 4. I can’t stand seeing it romanticised online when really it’s a nightmare,’ another added.
‘My mum use to work for one of these large accounting firms in Sydney CBD, she was one of their top recruits and they sent her overseas, she left after a year because she couldn’t handle it anymore and the stress was too much,’ said one.
‘Big 4 is one of the most toxic work environments possible.’
‘It’s the fact they lie to prospective candidates. I interned at one Big4 company and they sold work life balance to me but as an intern I worked 70 hour weeks,’ one wrote.
Ms Efstratiou told Daily Mail Australia that while she didn’t work at any of the firms herself, she had completed her masters of business administration with many who did and heard countless ‘horror stories’.
‘I knew someone who had to take a year off work and undergo therapy because of the intense bullying culture,’ she said.
‘I heard stories about crazy deadlines, and pulling all nighters wasn’t rare.’
Reviews for the accounting firms tell a similar story with one claiming teams were expected to work 24 hours a day, with little money, training or support.
‘The work of three people is expected of one person,’ they said.
‘No work-life balance, Senior management is disconnected from junior staff, no respect for proper salary compensation, expects insane overtime for substandard pay,’ a Sydney associate added.
One consultant said staff were treated like ‘cattle’.
‘The pay is awful with no room for negotiation, and you will be expected to work insane hours and be at your manager’s beck and call,’ they said.
‘You will be shouted at and treated like dirt. No opportunities for training or development as ‘it’s too expensive’ and can’t be written into the budget.
EY has promised a ‘comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review that will include health and safety, security and social events’ led by their chief mental health advisor in the wake of the tragedy (pictured, an EY careers event in Australia)
‘Meanwhile the executive team takes regular trips abroad for ‘leadership conferences.’ This place is a joke and years behind their competitors in every way.’
One person who works in the legal team for one Big 4 company said most ‘burned out within a year’.
‘Toxic leadership where your online and physical presence is monitored,’ they said.
The Sydney staffer who died on the weekend had been at work until around 7.30pm on Friday when she left her office in the golden skyscraper before returning again around midnight.
It was also originally thought that she attended work drinks between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, but Daily Mail Australia now understands she was at the office until this time.
This leaves a near-five hour gap in the woman’s movements.
Around 20 minutes after arriving back at her office at midnight, the woman apparently used her security swipe card to access the restricted open-air terrace area – and then tragically fell to her death.
Daily Mail Australia understands EY are drawing up plans to redesign the rooftop guardrail on the terrace to create a new barrier to prevent any repeat of the tragedy.
EY has promised a ‘comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review that will include health and safety, security and social events’ led by their chief mental health advisor in the wake of the tragedy.
The dead woman’s husband was on a flight from Singapore to Sydney at the time she died and had the terrible news broken to him after he stepped off the plane.
The police investigation is continuing and there is no suggestion EY – the trading name of Ernst & Young – or the worker’s superiors were in any way responsible for the death of the worker.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted EY, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte for a response to the claims.
Daily Mail Australia understands EY are drawing up plans to redesign the rooftop guardrail on the terrace (pictured) to create a new barrier to prevent any repeat of the tragedy
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11166863/EY-worker-death-TikTok-Aussie-blasts-toxic-work-culture-Big-4-consulting-firms.html