A veteran EY partner who had been at the firm for 19 years has taken a scathing shot at the ‘autocratic’ consulting giant in an email sent to staff after quitting.
Cameron Bird, who spent ten years as a partner in the infrastructure advisory team, used his farewell note to launch the blistering attack on the firm’s leadership.
Although Mr Bird is leaving to pursue a career in filmmaking, he made it clear that EY’s workplace culture was a driving factor in his decision to leave.
He told colleagues he could no longer tolerate ‘the direction the firm is taking’, and claimed the workplace had become dominated by a rigid, top-down culture.
Mr Bird claimed EY’s senior executives were ‘fixated on how things looked rather than how people were treated’.
According to Mr Bird, the leadership was driven by ‘an obsession with looking like they care about staff and clients’, while in reality their focus was on ‘career progression and personal gain’.
The comments come as EY attempts to rebuild its reputation after the 2022 death of an audit employee, who died after she leapt from the tenth floor of EY’s Sydney office.
It also follows a sweeping 2023 cultural review which uncovered widespread reports of bullying, racism, harassment and chronic overwork.
Cameron Bird (pictured) sent an all staff email to his EY colleagues, slamming the business
Mr Bird also said in his exit note that he had endured behaviour from some colleagues that was impossible to ignore.
He claimed several people had dismissed his instructions, lied to him, and intentionally made work difficult for him and those around him.
Mr Bird went further, citing one figure who, he claimed, had treated partners so poorly he could not let it go unmentioned.
He told the unnamed individual their behaviour lacked the basic respect expected within the firm.
Despite his public criticisms, Mr Bird also expressed gratitude to those who had supported him, thanking colleagues who had shown him kindness and professionalism over his long career with the firm.
The professional services sector has weathered a difficult year, hit by slowing demand, rising costs and mass redundancies.
EY cut about six per cent of its workforce last year and is now in the second phase of its ‘Culture+’ reform program, introduced after the Broderick review revealed two in five employees had considered quitting.
Much of EY’s infrastructure arm has since been rebranded under EY-Parthenon as part of a wider restructure.
EY has faced a number of scandals in recent years, with an employee taking their life in 2022
Mr Bird signed off his message by acknowledging that while EY had given him many opportunities, his time in consulting ‘had now run its course, and it was time to start over on a new path’.
Mr Bird will now turn his focus to filmmaking, stepping into a new chapter as Chief Storyteller and Managing Director at Fire Horse Films, the independent studio he has launched.
On his LinkedIn profile, Mr Bird explains his creative style draws heavily from his family background, saying his films are ‘influenced by [his] proud Chinese heritage from [his] mother who taught [him] to love art.’
Daily Mail contacted EY and Mr Bird for comment.