EY forges equality and purpose for a better working world

 July 31, 2018

Driving a strong commitment to gender equality and purpose right from the top is how global professional services firm, EY, operates.

EY recently announced that an impressive 747 people from their offices worldwide will be promoted to the position of partner - and almost 30% are women. A large and significant employer, EY has more than 260,000 people working in over 150 countries.

“We’re not just saying it, we’re living it,” Mark Weinberger, EY Global Chairman and CEO, said: “This year we are proud to welcome another diverse, high-achieving and sizeable group of new partners. These individuals have reached a major milestone in their career by representing our values, providing quality and innovative services to our clients and ultimately embodying our purpose of building a better working world. Developing dynamic leaders who support our clients and our high-performing teams is an essential part of EY’s success. I congratulate each and every one of the new partners on this well-deserved achievement and I wish them continued success in their careers.”

The announcement was closely followed by an insightful interview with EY Global Chairman and CEO, Mark Weinberger, and Fortune where he discussed the responsibility that business leaders have to contribute to building a better working world by speaking up on pressing issues. Diversity and inclusion underpin a huge part of EY’s progressive and inclusive culture, and these principles and mindsets are firmly advocated by Mark Weinberger.

Video: EY Global Chairman and CEO, Mark Weinberger, comments on the need for strong purpose and ethics in business.

Developing dynamic leaders

The announcement sees total partner promotions up by 12% and is the largest increase in three years. Geographically, the Americas had the largest proportion of new partners, with 290 promotions (39%), closely followed by the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) area with 285 promotions (38%). New partners in the Asia-Pacific area totalled 137 (18%) and Japan had 35 (5%).

Supporting women in the workforce and economy

Women. Fast forward is the EY global platform committed to building a better working world by advancing gender equality. Through this platform EY creates and scale-up programs and initiatives that accelerate the inclusion of women in the workforce and economy. By working with organizations – from schools to governments, from start-ups to international corporations – EY provide women the tools to access and seize opportunities in the rapidly changing world of work. In line with EY’s purpose, Women. Fast forward recognizes the societal and economic imperative of creating inclusive and sustainable growth.

Through Women. Fast forward, EY plays a vital role in using their collective knowledge, experiences and convening power to push themselves further and to do their part to accelerate the global gender parity clock.

For many years, EY has actively supported International Women’s Day as the main campaign sponsor, and helpsdrive the campaign theme, such as #PressforProgress. And EY supports many gender-focused events and initiativessuch as the International Policy Forum (IPF) on gender-inclusive growth and W20 Summits.

VIDEO: In every moment, no matter how small we can all press for progress.

SheWorks! and W20

One of the most recent commitments is the new EY collaboration with SheWorks!, the cloud-based technology platform that provides women access to remote and flexible job opportunities around the world. This commitment, officially announced at the Labor Inclusion session during the Women20 (W20) Argentina meeting in New York City in June 2018, will support and accelerate the SheWorks! platform in order to maximize employment opportunities for women through the gig economy. The initiative has the ambitious objective of leveraging this technology to create 100,000 job opportunities for women by 2020.

Commenting on the announcement Julie Teigland, Managing Partner - EY Germany, Switzerland and Austria and EY Global Leader - Women. Fast forward, said: “Leveraging the power of digital to attract more women to the global workforce is a key objective for EY as we strive for inclusive growth not only in the business but for society as a whole. Every year, millions of professional women leave the workforce because they cannot find the flexibility they need to balance work and life. We’re excited to start this collaboration as we believe that SheWorks! is doing something exceptional in working to ensure that women and girls can increasingly benefit from the use of innovative technologies to join the workforce and they can play a role into the economic development.”

Following the W20 consultation meeting on Labor Inclusion, Julie Teigland, EY Regional Managing Partner - GSA and EY Global Leader - Women. Fast forward, Andrea Rey, FIDS practice Leader at EY Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Susana Balbo, Chair of W20 and Silvina Moschini, Founder and CEO SheWorks!, discuss the relevance of policy and actions for advancing women in the workforce.

On June 25, the Women 20 (W20) engagement group, which seeks to influence decision-making bodies and public policy to increase women's socio-economic participation, convened to align on the critical steps and recommended actions for improving labor market inclusion. EY, topic chair for the labor inclusion area, hosted the meeting in its New York City offices. Under the leadership of Susana Balbo the group of delegates issued a set of recommendations for improving labor market inclusion for women. Read the official communique.

Continuously a progressive and inclusive employer

Standing by a strong global commitment to gender diversity, EY continue to build “our diverse and inclusive organization and provide exceptional experiences for EY people around the world,” says Trent Henry, EY Global Vice Chair -Talent.

EY is honored to be named on of the World’s Best Workplaces and the world’s most attractive professional services employer for the third consecutive year by Great Place to Work and Fortune. Announcement of the new partners follows EY being named the world's No.1 professional services employer for the second year in a row, and the fourth most attractive employer overall in Universum’s World’s Most Attractive Employers annual survey. EY was also announced in the UK’s Times Top 50 Employers for Women and ranked 63rd in the UK Midland’s Top 75 Best Companies to work for.

Steve Varley, Chairman and UK&I Managing Partner, said, “We are very proud to be listed in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women. It is recognition for the focus we place on increasing the representation of women across our business, at every level.”

Join the impressive women at EY

With such global presence, and a truly progressive focus on the “Gig Economy” and all its benefits, EY is most certainly a prime employer for women. Whether in tax, advisory, assurance or a vast range of business services - EY has many exciting and rewarding jobs on offer.