E&Y support staff in the north face the axe
Support staff in Ernst & Young’s northern and Scottish offices face redundancy
More than 100 support staff in Ernst & Young’s northern and Scottish
offices are facing redundancy as part of a cost-cutting programme.
Secretarial positions will be the main focus of a consultation currently
underway in E&Y’s north region. A spokeswoman for the firm said that,
although the number of redundancies had yet to be decided, all secretarial
positions were under review.
The firm employs approximately 110 secretarial staff across the north of
England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Offices in Newcastle, Manchester,
Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Belfast
could also be hit.
A source told Accountancy Age that all support staff in the north region had
been notified that their jobs were at risk and the firm believes technical staff
should take on many of the responsibilities, such as typing, booking meeting
rooms and making travel arrangements.
‘Operational processes have recently been reviewed, by office, to ensure they
are both efficient and aligned to the firm’s future strategy,’ said Ernst &
Young in a statement. ‘As a result of this review, in some limited areas of our
national organisation, changes will be made to reflect our future growth plans.
‘Unfortunately this does mean that a small number of individuals are at risk
of redundancy and we appreciate this is difficult for all those involved. The
firm is currently consulting with those who are potentially affected.’