Ernst & Young (EY) recently fired dozens of employees in the US for attending multiple online training courses simultaneously during the firm’s learning week organised earlier this year. According to the Financial Times, the company said that the act amounted to an ethical breach. “Our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do. Appropriate disciplinary action was recently taken in a small number of cases where individuals were found to be in violation of our global code of conduct and US learning policy,” EY said. However, the dismissals, which took place last week, have sparked an internal debate about business ethics and the limits of multitasking. 

Following the termination, several employees who were sacked for the reason spoke with the Financial Times, countering that there was no prior warning from the company against attending multiple courses at the same time. 

“Their emails marketing EY Ignite actually encouraged us to join as many sessions as our schedule allowed,” one person told the FT, adding, “We all work with three monitors. I was hoping to hear new ideas that I could bring to the table to separate myself from others.”

Another person who lost their job said that the firm “breeds a culture of multitasking”. “If you are forced to bill 45 hours a week and do many more hours of internal work, how can it not?” the former employee said. 

A third person said, “I know a partner who will do two (client) calls and switch their camera on and off depending on who he is talking to. If this is unethical, then that is unethical, too.”

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EY termed the sackings as “appropriate disciplinary action”, saying attending more than one course at the same time was a breach of the company’s ethics. But some staff reacted to the latest dismissals by calling them a disproportionately severe response. 

EY’s response was “just bizarre”, said one employee, adding, “Perhaps reduce their rating, deduct bonus, or even delay promo, but simply terminating them effective immediately is just cruel… If this was so important, then implement better systems.”

The firm has since updated its guidance for training events, explicitly requiring staff to “be present for all content and class interactions.” The dismissed employees were reportedly not provided severance packages.