EY in Greece Sustainable Development Report 2024

EY in Greece proudly presents its second Sustainable Development Report, highlighting our ambition to Shape the future with confidence and drive purposeful growth, together. The report outlines our management approach and performance, focusing on our economic, social, and environmental impacts. We prioritize strategic areas, set goals, and strive to create long-term value for our colleagues, clients, and stakeholders, aligning the EY purpose and strategy.

This report refers to financial year 2024 (FY24), while it includes information from FY23 and FY22 for comparability purposes. The report has been developed in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 2021.

Creating long-term value for the environment and society

At EY, our actions and policies are guided by shared values and a deep commitment to tackling humanity’s most urgent challenges. In a time of unprecedented crises – ranging from climate change and geopolitical instability to technological disruptions, famine, and mass migration – we recognize the need to aim higher, work smarter, and accomplish more, while thriving as human beings.

The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, serve as strong indicators that climate change is a critical issue that needs to be addressed today. The EY commitment to decarbonization underpinning net zero remains unchanged. We are on track to deliver on our absolute decarbonization target of 40% in 2025 through a progressive plan. 

EY Ripples, our global Corporate Responsibility program, represents EY flagship investment in communities, aiming to positively impact one billion lives by 2030. We are well on our way to achieving this goal, having reached over 127 million lives, since the program’s launch in 2018, thanks to the millions of hours contributed by EY employees. In Greece alone, EY has impacted nearly 2 million lives through EY Ripples to date, with the active participation of 1,001 volunteers.

Building confidence with new technologies

Committed to remain at the forefront of change, we are embracing transformative technologies, while prioritizing trust and transparency. As part of our $10 billion, three-year investment plan globally, we have consolidated all AI innovation and development efforts under a single platform, EY.ai. This platform enables clients to efficiently harness the benefits of AI, while also promoting transparency and trust by addressing key issues such as accountability, security, privacy, integrity, inclusivity, and professional responsibility.

Recognizing the importance of our people

Our ability to meet our societal commitments and maintain the exceptional service our clients expect from EY stems from the quality of our people, their drive, hard work, professionalism and passion for meaningful work. We are committed to offering a supportive, inclusive, and flexible environment where they can thrive, grow, and enjoy a unique career experience – balancing professional development with personal and family priorities.

In FY24, our female headcount reached 46% of our staff, while women account for 35% of our senior management, a figure that we aim to increase to at least 40% by the end of calendar year 2027. Also, it is important to mention that 42% of our 368 promotions in FY24 were women. Over the last decade, our headcount has grown from 540 to 2,411 – an increase of 346% – providing quality jobs for young scientists and professionals. In FY23 and FY24 respectively, we hired 20 and 26 Greeks, who had been working abroad – our contribution to the effort to reverse the brain drain of the previous decade. 

One of the ways we help create long-term value for people is through a commitment to lifelong learning. EY people globally have earned more than 410,000 new digital accreditations known as EY Badges, since we launched the program in 2017, and 274 EY people have earned EY-funded master’s degrees through our fully accredited program with Hult International Business School. At EY in Greece, our people have earned 801 EY Badges and achieved 120,000 learning hours during FY24 alone. 

Meanwhile, wellbeing remains a key strategic priority, leading us to invest on initiatives that focus on mental, social, financial, and physical health, with customized programs accessible to everyone.

Our people strategy and initiatives are being recognized by leading organizations, as confirmed by the Great Place to Work™ and Top Employers Institute awards, we received this year, which once again place us ahead of the competition. All this has been accomplished while EY in Greece has achieved 18% compound annual growth during the last five FYs (FY19-FY24), and exceeded €216 million in consolidated revenues in FY24, placing it among the fastest growing practices within the global organization.

Targets and commitments to value creation

We will continue to focus on creating, protecting and measuring long-term value for our stakeholders by helping them navigate the current challenges and embrace opportunities.

The new global EY strategy – All in – sets out a bold ambition to create new value for EY clients, people and societal stakeholders. Placing clients at the core of our strategy, it will ensure that the EY globally integrated, multi-disciplinary network continues to lead through a rapidly evolving AI and technology-driven era, shaping the future with confidence, and driving purposeful growth, together. 

Meanwhile, our recently announced decision to move to a new office complex in Athens, to be completed in 2026, reflects our vision for the future. Similarly, we will be moving in a new office in Thessaloniki in 2025. Our new offices are being designed to place people at the center, matching the expectations and dynamic needs of our clients, while drastically reducing our environmental footprint. 

We are committed to using our knowledge and experience to support and empower our clients, government, stakeholders and communities, as we try to bring our purpose of shaping the future with confidence, to life. Our actions reflect our vision, our commitment and who we are: people who will be by your side.