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EY has delayed start dates for graduates hired by its US strategy and deal advisory business for the third year in a row, as the Big Four firm grapples with what it called “uncertain and evolving market conditions”.
Undergraduate and speciality master’s students who were due to join EY Parthenon after graduation in the next few months have been told they would now be needed “no sooner than March 2026”.
The move comes as the Big Four accounting and consulting firms navigate a sluggish market for mergers and acquisitions, crimping their deals businesses, and broader economic uncertainty that has meant fewer current employees are leaving.
Several firms delayed start dates for new recruits when the market slowed sharply in 2023, but EY was the only big firm that was still doing so, according to Namaan Mian, chief operating officer of Management Consulted, which coaches students through the recruitment process.
“Other firms tell me that hiring plans are moving forward at ‘full speed ahead’,” Mian said, while EY Parthenon has taken a different approach. “There are too many consultants on the books and not enough projects in the pipeline. EY would just be paying these kids to sit on the bench.”
In an emailed message to members of its 2025 recruiting class, EY said that the March 2026 start date was still “subject to change — in either direction — as conditions develop”.
In order to thin the ranks further, it is giving recruits the option of pushing out their start date to the second half of next year in return for a lump sum of $10,000, or walking away from the firm while being allowed to keep their sign-on bonus.
One person who turned down an offer from a large technology company to join EY Parthenon called $10,000 for a one-year delay “disrespectful”, and said it was “crummy” to receive the news just two days after their graduation ceremony.
“I walked the stage on Saturday and got that email on Monday,” the person said. “They literally open the email by saying congratulations on your recent graduation, and then go on to say, ‘oh, by the way, we’re pushing back your state date’.”
EY told the Financial Times it had given “a small number of incoming hires updated guidance and options regarding their start dates . . . after careful consideration of the current economic environment”.
It added: “Our open and ongoing communications with this group includes providing them with a start date range to ensure the quality and breadth of assignments, and to establish a strong professional trajectory for our new joiners.”
The Big Four have historically operated an “up or out” model that brings in tens of thousands of new recruits each year but thins the ranks quickly. That creates pressure on profits when fewer people than expected leave the firm during periods of economic uncertainty.
PwC this month said it would lay off 1,500 people in the US, on top of 1,800 it let go in a restructuring late last year. In April, Deloitte executives on an internal call said it would be laying off staff across its advisory business.
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