Ernst & Young (EY) recently dismissed several US employees for simultaneously attending multiple online training courses during a company-organized learning week.
The Financial Times reported that EY classified these actions as ethical breaches. “Integrity and ethics, our core values, guide our actions. We took appropriate disciplinary measures against a few individuals found breaching our global code of conduct and US learning policy,” stated EY. However, the firings have triggered an internal debate over business ethics and multitasking limits.
Several dismissed employees told the Financial Times that the company had not been warned against taking multiple courses. “EY Ignite’s promotional emails encouraged us to attend as many sessions as our schedules would allow,” one individual noted. They added that using multiple monitors is common at EY, aiming to integrate new ideas into their work.
Another dismissed employee remarked on the prevalent multitasking culture at EY, questioning how it could be avoided given the heavy workload expectations. A third individual compared their situation to a partner known to manage multiple client calls by toggling their camera, questioning the consistency in ethical standards.
EY described the dismissals as “appropriate disciplinary action,” citing company ethics violations by attending multiple courses simultaneously. Nonetheless, some employees viewed the dismissals as overly harsh. “The response was bizarre. A less severe penalty or a system improvement would have been more appropriate than immediate termination,” one employee suggested.
Following the incident, EY has clarified its training event policies, which now explicitly require full presence and interaction in sessions. The employees affected by these firings did not receive severance packages.
