A young woman has called out Australia’s top four consulting firms, claiming they create a “hyper-competitive, toxic environment” that pushes staff over the edge.
The Big 4, as accounting giants Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, PwC and Deloitte are known, have been in the spotlight this week following the tragic death of an EY senior associate in Sydney over the weekend.
The woman, now known to be 27 and not 33 as previously reported, was last seen alive on a secure outdoor terrace on the 10th floor of the EY tower in Sydney’s CBD at around 12 noon. :30 a.m. on Saturday.
Since then, many former and current workers have spoken out about their experiences working at well-known firms, claiming that the stressful work culture led many to leave after just a couple of years.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that the alleged culture at any of the listed companies contributed to the woman’s death.
Carla Efstratiou, who runs the TikTok ‘gowokegobrokeaus’, said she was ‘not surprised’ to learn of the weekend tragedy.
“These companies have a lot to answer for,” he said.
“They have created this toxic environment that is hyper-competitive, that demands inhumane long hours that will send anyone over the edge.”
Ms Efstratiou said university graduates often sought out a job with the Big 4 because of their reputation, flashy offices and the idea of working for a ‘prestigious’ company was too good to pass up.
The allegedly toxic environment at Big 4 has been thrown into the spotlight by the tragic death of an EY worker in Sydney over the weekend (company’s Sydney office pictured)
Carla Efstratiou, who runs the TikTok account gowokegobrokeaus, alleged there was a ‘toxic’ work culture at Big 4
‘So you get there and you can get a free lunch and a view of the city harbour, but at what cost?’ she said.
“You’re forced to stay there for 12 or 14 hours a day, you get paid a crust for the amount of work you’re actually doing, and you’re surrounded by a cohort of self-serving narcissists who will stab you in the back.”
Ms. Efstratiou said that young staff needed to know that “the disappearance of your mental health is not worth a spreadsheet.”
His video, which has been viewed more than 380,000 times, was flooded with comments from many current and former employees.
‘I worked there. I hated it. Destruction of the soul. He had never been treated so poorly by management,” one commented.
Another said he had a “miserable” internship experience at a major company and vowed to “never accept a full-time offer.”
‘I worked at Big 4 for three years, my mental health almost made me give up on life. Leaving was one of the best decisions I have ever made,” said another.
‘As a former (Big 4) manager I can tell you it’s bad. Partners and senior managers ignore the problems and HR. H H. It didn’t help me either until I quit,” wrote one.
Former and current staff at some of the Big 4 companies claim they were overworked for little pay, with many ‘burning out’ within a couple of years.
One woman said she had her first panic attack at one of the companies.
“I’ll never get caught working on the Big 4. I can’t stand to see it romanticized online when it’s actually a nightmare,” added another.
‘My mum used to work for one of these big accounting firms in Sydney CBD, she was one of their best recruits and they sent her overseas, she left after a year because she couldn’t handle it anymore and the stress was too much. one said.
‘The Big 4 is one of the most toxic work environments possible.’
It is the fact that they lie to potential candidates. I interned at a Big4 company and was sold on work life balance, but as an intern I worked 70 hours a week,” one wrote.
Ms Efstratiou told Daily Mail Australia that while she did not work at any of the companies, she had completed her MBA with many who did and heard countless ‘horror stories’.
“I knew someone who had to take a year off work and go to therapy because of the intense culture of bullying,” he said.
“I heard stories about crazy deadlines, and staying up all night was not uncommon.”
Accounting firm reviews tell a similar story with a claim that 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.
“There is no work-life balance, senior management is disconnected from junior staff, proper salary compensation is not respected, reckless overtime is expected for sub-standard pay,” added a Sydney associate.
One consultant said that staff were treated like ‘cattle’.
“The pay is horrible and there is no room for negotiation, and you are expected to work insane hours and be at the beck and call of your manager,” they said.
They will yell at you and treat you like dirt. There are no training or development opportunities because ‘it’s too expensive’ and can’t be budgeted for.
EY has promised a “comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review to include health and safety, security and social events” led by its lead mental health adviser in the wake of the tragedy (pictured an EY careers event in Australia )
‘Meanwhile, the executive team makes regular trips abroad for ‘leadership conferences’. This place is a joke and is years behind its competitors in every way.’
One person who works on the legal team at one of the Big 4 firms said most “went out of stock within a year.”
‘Toxic leadership where your online and physical presence is monitored,’ they said.
The Sydney employee who died over the weekend had been at work until around 7:30pm on Friday when she left her office in the gold skyscraper before returning around midnight.
It was also originally thought that he was attending drinks at work between 5:30pm and 7:30pm, but Daily Mail Australia now understands that he was in the office up to that point.
This leaves a gap of nearly five hours in the woman’s movements.
About 20 minutes after returning to her office at midnight, the woman apparently used her security swipe card to access the restricted outdoor terrace area, then tragically fell to her death.
Daily Mail Australia understands that EY is drawing up plans to redesign the roof railing on the terrace to create a new barrier to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
EY has promised a “comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review to include health and safety, security and social events” led by its chief mental health adviser 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 was given the terrible news after he got off the plane.
The police investigation is ongoing and there is no indication that EY, the Ernst & Young trading name, or the worker’s superiors were responsible for the worker’s death.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted EY, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte for a response to the claims.
Daily Mail Australia understands that EY is drawing up plans to redesign the roof railing on the terrace (pictured) to create a new barrier to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
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