EY maintains investment in young talent with over 1000 student hires in the UK

• 854 graduates and 194 apprentices have started on programmes across the country this year
• 43% of EY’s student intake are female and 41% are from a Black or ethnic minority background, up from 39% and 38% respectively last year

EY has welcomed a total of 1048 graduates and apprentices in the UK this year, reinforcing its commitment to invest in and nurture young talent, despite COVID-19. This compares to 1011 graduates and apprentices hired in 2019.

854 graduates and 194 apprentices have joined 14 EY offices. Edinburgh, Hull, Luton, Reading and Southampton have seen a particularly strong intake on last year, as EY continues to build out its talent pipeline across the country, with 45% of this year’s cohort joining EY’s regional offices.

In line with EY’s commitment to recruit a diverse pool of candidates, 43% of the student recruits this year are female (up from 39% last year), 41% are from an ethnic minority (up from 38%, last year), and 3% of students are Black.

As part of  EY’s commitment to attract more diverse students, 30% of the work experience places on the EY Foundation’s Smart Futures/Our Futures programmes will be offered to Black young people for the next five years from September 2021. Additionally, EY has set a target of offering at least 30% of places on its school leaver pathways to Black alumni from the Smart Futures and Our Futures programmes from next year.

EY has adjusted its student recruitment programmes for a virtual environment to ensure graduates and apprentices are still able to undertake client work and work towards their professional qualifications, despite COVID-19. EY has introduced more one-to-one touchpoints for students with their line managers and coaches and will be arming students with tools and tips on working in a virtual world. There will also be virtual networking sessions and more peer support groups.

Hywel Ball, EY UK Chair, said: “Young talent is essential to our future business success and to shaping the skills we will need to remain competitive. I’m proud that we’ve maintained our commitment to student recruitment this year, despite COVID-19, and that we’ve honoured all the conditional offers we made prior to A-level results. At a time when many young people are facing a challenging labour market, our apprenticeship, graduate and internship programmes provide students and school leavers with a great opportunity to gain real hands-on experience, while also enhancing their skills and gaining a qualification."

Justine Campbell, EY UK&I Managing Partner for Talent, said: “Diversity and inclusion are key priorities for EY and I’m pleased by the progress we’ve made to improve the diversity of our student intake this year. However, we know there’s more we can do which is why we introduced more ambitious diversity targets last year and announced our anti-racism commitments in July.

“Many of the bright, young people we recruit go on to become our future leaders and are a critical part of the business. We have another strong cohort joining us this year and wish them all the success in their careers with us.”