Majority of EY's internal partner promotions female for first time

Majority of EY’s internal partner promotions female for first time

Jo Masters

More women than men have been promoted internally to partner at EY, with 55 per cent of its 31 internal appointments female.

The firm has also made progress on its gender pay gap, with a spokesperson confirming it’s now at less than 1 per cent across the organisation in Australia, down from 10 per cent when it publicly disclosed the figure for the first time in 2018.

The female promotions milestone has been reached internally, but for partners appointed externally, the majority were male. Overall, 40 per cent of the 73 partners promotions announced on Tuesday are female — about the same as in 2019, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Men dominated the list of lateral hires, possibly as many were named partner after a series of acquisitions by EY throughout the year.

The overall 73 appointments is a strong result for EY, given the impact the pandemic is having on consulting — with each of its three main rivals shedding jobs in recent months. Tony Johnson told the AFR it’s “imperative” that the firm further expands.

EY’s was one of the first big firms to openly disclose its gender pay gap in Australia, which in 2018 was at 14.9 per cent at the partner level and 10 per cent across the firm.

Back in 2018 also, Johnson committed the firm to a target of 30 per cent female partners by end of 2020, as well as to have women making up 30 per cent of highest earning partners by 2020.

Asked if the firm is still committed to those targets, a spokesperson said they “are heading in the right direction”.

Chief Economist Jo Masters (pictured above) is one of the women promoted to partner in the firm. She’s a former senior economist with ANZ and Macquarie Bank, a high profile media spokesperson on the economy and continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Board of the Financy Women’s Index.

Also appointed was Susie Kuo in the Assurance team, as well as Tenille Chamclam, Sarah Elphick and Megan Holt in the consulting team.

One of the lateral hires includes Astrid Beemster, who came across from law firm DLA Piper in June.

×

Stay Smart! Get Savvy!

Get Women’s Agenda in your inbox