EY announces new roles that will be a combination of the ‘best of the best’ graduates and experienced hires.
Accounting and consulting giant EY is to create 520 jobs across six cities in Ireland.
This consists of 305 jobs that will be filled by Ireland’s best and brightest graduates by September, up by 57 roles on last year’s intake. An additional 215 new roles will be filled by experienced candidates in areas that include data analytics, IT advisory and transformation, risk, cyber, digital strategy, and customer experience.
‘We aim to have all 305 graduate roles in place by September and we hope to have all of the experienced hires in place within the next nine to 12 months’
– FRANK O’KEEFFE
The average salary for the experienced positions will be around €65,000.
EY managing partner Frank O’Keeffe told Siliconrepublic.com that exceptional growth in the firm’s consultancy practice, driven by continuing disruption in the Irish and global business landscape, has led to the creation of more than half of the new roles, and has driven increased demand for graduate positions.
Riding the perfect storm of tech disruption and geopolitical uncertainty
Increased demand in the firm’s core audit, tax and corporate finance practices has also led to the creation of these new roles, including fast-growth areas such as economic advisory, tax and audit innovation, and automation.
“We aim to have all 305 graduate roles in place by September and we hope to have all of the experienced hires in place within the next nine to 12 months,” O’Keeffe said.
He said that EY has grown its headcount in Ireland by 36pc in the last two years and is now at 2,500 across all six offices on the island of Ireland.
EY has also invested significantly in the digital and innovation part of its business, including the establishment of its performance improvement and management consultancy arm led by chief innovation officer Frank O’Dea, growing to a team of more than 430 people.
EY also has more than 80 data analytics specialists working across all areas of its business. “The combination of these skills along with traditional accounting and tax backgrounds is providing our clients with deeper levels of forecasting, business strategy and decision-making,” O’Keefe said.
EY-Seren launched last year in Ireland, led by Yvonne Kiely, and this team has grown to more than 20 people.
As well as this, EY expanded its focus into economic advisory when it acquired DKM Economic Consultants in January for an undisclosed sum.
“While geopolitical, uncertainty and technological disruption will undoubtedly present challenges for businesses and the Irish economies, Ireland is facing these challenges from a position of great strength and flexibility,” O’Keeffe explained.
“As a result, our client needs are evolving and more innovative solutions are required. We are bringing together the best talent and latest technology to drive truly transformative innovation in all our services.
“In the last year, approximately 60pc of offers we’ve made in Ireland have been to people with non-traditional tax or accounting backgrounds. Tax and accounting experts will always be core to our business, and the combination of traditional and innovative capabilities means we can provide market-leading products and services that help our clients continue to tackle some of today’s most complex and pressing issues.”
The creation of the 520 new roles was welcomed by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, TD.
“We want to retain homegrown talent and also attract highly skilled workers from abroad, so the opportunity that EY provides candidates to base themselves in Ireland while gaining international experience through their global network and client base is vitally important for Ireland Inc,” he said.
