EY

HQ
London
Total Offices: 17
314,640 Total Employees

What's It Like to Work at EY?

Updated on September 08, 2026

This page summarizes recurring themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about EY and has not been reviewed or approved by EY.

What's it like to work at EY?

Strengths in Learning & Development, Career Growth, and Benefits & Perks are accompanied by challenges in Workload & Burnout, perceived Low Compensation relative to hours, and pockets of Job Insecurity. Together, these dynamics suggest a high-intensity environment that offers accelerated growth and brand value while requiring tolerance for peak workloads and occasional organizational shifts.

Key Insight for Candidates

EY’s core tradeoff is firm-funded, unparalleled upskilling (EY Badges and even free accredited degrees) paired with grueling busy-season workloads. It lets you amass elite, portable career capital and exits fast, but demands sustained intensity and can make compensation feel thin relative to hours.

Evidence in Action

  • Busy Season Cadence Busy Season workloads (often 60–80 hours, with 12+ hour days and weekends) are a documented organizational pattern at EY. This sets expectations that client deadlines outrank personal time, normalizing intense sprints and shaping perceptions of work-life balance.
  • Flexible Vacation Closures Flexible vacation and firmwide week-long summer and winter closures are established EY policies. Employees value institutionalized breaks yet must coordinate approvals with performance and client needs, affecting how restorative time is actually taken.

Positive Themes About EY

  • Learning & Development: Programs like EY Badges, funded certifications, generous study leave, and fully paid degrees (e.g., EY Tech MBA, MBAN, MSuS) reflect substantial investment in upskilling. Feedback suggests structured training, mentorship, and mobility help employees build cutting-edge skills quickly.
  • Career Growth: A structured hierarchy with clear milestones and the firm’s brand create a strong launchpad and elite exit opportunities to industry roles. Feedback suggests exposure to high-profile clients and rapid responsibility accelerate advancement in the first few years.
  • Benefits & Perks: Flexible vacation, firmwide seasonal breaks, a Wellbeing Fund, robust mental health resources, and generous parental leave are emphasized. Feedback suggests these benefits aim to counterbalance intensity and support physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing.

Considerations About EY

  • Workload & Burnout: Peak cycles in audit/tax and deadline-driven consulting work often involve long weeks, late nights, and weekends. Feedback suggests sustained intensity during “busy seasons” can lead to stress and fatigue.
  • Low Compensation: Pay is considered competitive on paper but is often viewed as not fully commensurate with the hours required during peak cycles. Feedback suggests hourly value feels compressed for entry- and mid-level roles.
  • Job Insecurity: Organizational reshaping and targeted reductions have occurred in certain practices in recent years. Feedback suggests shifting business demand and tightening in-office expectations in some groups can add uncertainty for some teams.
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These insights are generated using AI and may not reflect internal data or verified company information. They are intended solely for general informational purposes and should not be considered a definitive assessment of the company’s reputation. If you are a representative of this company, and would like this page to be removed, you may contact us via this form.
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