If you want to hear stories of disillusioned junior staff sticking it to the greedy partnerships that worked their fledgling fingers to the bone during the GFC, come to the Firm Spy. It has been mooted now for a couple of months, but we’re here to tell you, this 31 May 2010, that juniors are getting mobile and corporate Australia is set for a skills shortage. Our inbox is literally full of stories of recent corporate departures.

heading for the exit

But we’ll start with a focus on Ernst & Young - by far the most underreported of the Big4 accounting firms on Firm Spy. We received the following comments from an anonymous EY spy on the weekend:

Keep an eye out at Ernst & Young people walking left right and centre as EY continue to promote female technical divisions to run the practice. Over 10 seniors/manager have walked from the mid markets group in the last 6 weeks.

Are we sensing a hint of positive discrimination? Or just chauvenism from the spy?

Whatever the answer, the news of the departures must be the source of some ructions at the top of EY. Ernst & Young deputy chairman Michael Wachtel is said to have recently endorsed Gerard Dalbosco as Chief Executive based on his youth and ability to interact with juniors. As noted by BRW (14/4):

Wachtel views Dalbosco’s relative youth as a positive attribute in an industry where most staff are aged 20 to 40 years old, and staff retention is a big issue. Wachtel says:

“He might look younger compared to his [peer chief executives] but it makes him closer to the majority of the demographic in professional services firms. This is important in today’s society as leadership style. Nowadays, the notion that you lead merely by reference to those in control doesn’t exist. Younger people want to see a certain level of dynamic young leadership because they relate to it better.”

Perhaps Wachtel is too “old” to truly understand what younger people relate to. Either that, or the Ernst youngsters simply don’t find Dalbosco “dynamic” enough.

Other than being a corporate wank word, what is “dynamic” anyhow? We invite your comments. We also invite EY spies to comment on whether the relate to Dalbosco’s dynamism, or whether Wachtel and the board made a major mistake in appointing such a juvenile leader.

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