Majority of EY's internal partner appointments are women

EY is making strides in improving its workplace diversity and inclusion in Australia. For the first time in its history, over half of internal partners appointments nationally were female in the latest intake.

EY’s Australian wing has announced a total of 73 new partners in FY2020. Of those, 31 were internal partner promotions, while 42 were external appointments. Most of these came from the acquisitions of Cadence, Aleron and Port Jackson Partners. Overall, About 40% of EY’s 73 new partners are women. While this does not suggest a massive change on 2019’s figures, when only accounting for internal appointments, over 58% of those promoted were women.

It is the first time EY Australia’s new internal partners – who will each become equity holders in October – have been majority female. EY is the only Big Four firm in which all partners are equity holders, meaning that they directly share in the profits of the firm, rather than being salaried partners who have a fixed salary and less input in the way the firm is run.

Gender pay gap

As well as boosting the gender balance in its partner team, EY also made progress on its gender pay gap. According to one spokesperson, the gap is now less than 1% across EY Australia – dramatic progress from the 10% when it first publicly disclosed the figure in 2018.

At the time, EY was one of the first big firms in Australia to declare its gender pay gap. In 2018, the gender pay gap in the firm’s partner rank was found to be 14.9%, something which led the firm to commit to a target of 30% female partners by end of 2020 – as well as to have women making up 30% the of highest earning partners. While EY’s spokesperson did not explicitly declare those targets have now been met, it was suggested the firm is “heading in the right direction.”

An overview of the new female partners at EY:

Strategy and Transactions
Christina Boyce
Felicity Hughes
Emily Trusler
Emma Buchanan

Consulting
Donna Enverga
Sara Golubenko
Alina Humphreys
Louise MacDonald
Megan Holt
Sarah Elphick
April Tin
Permenthri Pillay
Tenille Chamclam

Tax                                                              
Astrid Beemster
Hannah Soh
Marjukka Maki-Hokkonen
Amber Cerny
Michelle Watson
Nicola Bentley
Tuyet Nguyen

Assurance                                                          
Daniele Bird
Amy Hudson
Andrea Steacy
Irene Tzavaras
Rachel Rudman
Siobhan Hughes
Susie Kuo

Chief Economist
Jo Masters

EY’s strong performance

Despite a difficult year, which has seen many firms consider placing promotions on hold to cope with the coronavirus crisis, the overall 73 appointments is a strong result for EY. Amid the slowdown at its rivals, EY Australia’s headcount and revenue growth was the fastest of the Big Four in FY2020.

EY is also most immune to the crisis it seems, with each of its three main rivals shedding jobs in recent months. Given the impact the pandemic is having on consulting, rivals PwC and Deloitte reduced their headcounts by 700 each, while KPMG asked people to take pay cuts, months after firing 200 of its staff.

By contrast, EY Oceania Managing Partner Tony Johnson said it is “imperative” that the firm further expands, as it is called upon by clients to help them navigate the disruptive landscape.