Tragic news out of Sydney, a 33-year-old woman who worked for EY has died in the office over the weekend.
The original Australian report is behind a paywall, so we’re getting some details from the Daily Mail, sorry. The Guardian also has some information. Unfortunately, details are a bit scant at the moment and his identity and position at the firm have not been revealed.
The woman reportedly went out for drinks with her colleagues on Friday night at a nightclub called The Ivy and returned to the office around 7:30 p.m. to finish some work. The Australian wrote that there are reports she was escorted out of The Ivy for being intoxicated, however EY security footage reviewed by police did not suggest visible intoxication. Her body was later discovered by colleagues on Saturday morning.
The woman’s husband was on a flight from Singapore to Australia that night and learned of her death when he stepped off the plane at Sydney airport.
Oceania Regional CEO and Managing Partner David Larocca said in a company-wide email:
It is with great sadness that I share the news that one of our team members died in the EY building in Sydney over the weekend.
While the police investigation is ongoing, we have been informed that there were no suspicious circumstances.
We have been in contact with the family of the person involved to offer our condolences and continued support.
The loss of a colleague is deeply saddening, I want to assure everyone that we will continue to provide support in any way we can. This includes our EAP service which is available to all EY employees and their families.
As a result of this tragedy, we are conducting a comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review that will include social, health and safety events. Jono Nicholas, our lead Mental Health Advisor, will play an important role in guiding and advising us as we move forward.
News.com.au mentions several internet comments (here are some on r/sydney) about how the workaholic culture may have contributed to the incident; however, he makes sure to deny that they are not actually suggesting that EY had anything to do with it.
In the wake of the death, posts on online forums have highlighted the “high-pressure, workaholic culture” at the Big 4 financial services companies.
“He had a lot of nights and weekends, so I can definitely see what he may be experiencing. I took a six-month leave of absence to reset myself mentally. Ultimately quit after that,” wrote one Reddit user, who claimed to be a former employee of a Big 4 company.
“Working for B4 (Big 4) can often feel like working in a sweatshop. They don’t care about your well-being. They only care about the way out, the way out, the way out,” read another comment.
News.com.au does not suggest that the work culture at EY contributed to the employee’s death.
We will update when we have more information. If you have more details, please use the contact information below to contact the editors of Going Concern and contribute to this report.
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