EY embarks on ambitious US recruitment drive

Professional services firm EY is set to capitalize on US growth with plans to recruit 6,500 experienced hires and almost 9,000 graduates. Advisory will absorb the majority of new hires to help sustain the division’s strong performance in recent years.

An ambitious recruitment drive has been launched by Big Four firm EY, who plan to hire 15,500 new professionals in the US by the end of the 2015 financial year in July. EY’s rapidly growing Advisory division will be the main beneficiary of the fresh talent.

Americas Director of Experienced and Executive Recruiting at EY, Larry Nash, told Accounting Today that “the demand for our services and our success in the market is driving the need to bring in more talented people”.

Full time graduate trainees and interns will total some 9,000 recruits, to be spread across all service lines. A substantial minority of the cohort will be experienced hires - roughly 6,500 will taking on well-paid and full-time positions, said Nash.

Many will head straight to Advisory and be expected to hit the ground running. “Our advisory practice we expect will account for 30% of our experienced recruiting. That practice has grown significantly over the last five to seven years. Over the last five years, it’s had double-digit growth.”

To attract the best and most sustainable talent, EY has adopted a strong focus on employee referrals in its recruitment strategy. Last year almost 50% of all experienced hires were sourced and assessed using referrals, up from 28% in 2010.

Not only is this a cost-effective strategy suited for a highly competitive job market. According to Nash referred-to employees achieve more and stay longer than other new hires. “There are definitely some studies and research, both outside Ernst & Young and what we’ve done inside Ernst & Young, that show that referred workers compared to hires from other channels have better performance and stay a bit longer, because they have a built-in network from people they know”.