The new hires are part of EY’s 1,088 student recruits across the UK this year, which includes 909 graduates and 179 apprentices. A total of 44% of all the student recruits this year will be based outside of London in EY’s regional offices, with notably large intakes in Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Reading.
Of the new joiners in Cambridge, 54% are women and 50% are from ethnic minorities. Nationally, 46% of all the new graduate and apprentice starters are female and 38% are from ethnic minorities, with 4% Black students.
Stuart Wilkinson, Office Managing Partner at EY in Cambridge (pictured), said: “I’m really pleased to welcome our new recruits to the Cambridge office. At a time when many students have been facing a challenging jobs market, I’m proud that we have increased our intake from last year and have honoured all the conditional offers we made prior to A-Level results for the second year running.
“Cambridge has a thriving business community and we work with some of the region’s most high-profile and well-known organisations in both the private and public sectors, making this a great place for our new recruits to develop their careers.”
Adapting to change
EY adapted its student recruitment programmes over the last 18 months to ensure that graduates and apprentices were still able to receive meaningful client experiences and study for their professional qualifications while working virtually. With restrictions now easing, students will complete their induction training virtually before adopting a hybrid working arrangement from mid-Autumn onwards, where they will split their time between office, client site and remote working.
To ensure students receive the right level of support, 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 both virtual and in-person networking sessions and more peer support groups.
Despite the challenges of COVID, EY also provided a further nine places on its Business Academy, Industrial Placement and Summer Internship programmes in Cambridge. These work experience programmes provide students with insights into working life at EY, while also gaining key skills.
Nationally, the EY Foundation – EY’s independent charity – also provided over 600 placements on its Smart Futures, Our Futures and Beyond Your Limits programmes for students. Through these programmes, the EY Foundation aims to support young people from low-income backgrounds to gain paid work experience, employability skills training and career advice.
Diverse early talent
EY is committed to attracting and retaining diverse talent and last year set out a series of new anti-racism commitments. This included a commitment to offering at least 30% of EY’s work experience places to Black young people for the next five years.
In addition, EY has increased the number of places on its ‘Discover EY Black Heritage in Business’ programme for first year undergraduates by 72%. The two-day virtual programme gives Black students the opportunity to learn more about EY, gain career advice and network. EY’s Race and Ethnicity employee network is also now offering a mentoring scheme to support early talent as students begin their career at EY.
Justine Campbell, EY’s UK&I Managing Partner for Talent, says: “It is important that we continue to recruit the brightest and best at EY, which is why we are working hard to attract and retain diverse entry level talent, particularly throughout the pandemic and beyond.
“We know that many of these new hires will become the future leaders of our business so it’s vital that we equip them with the expertise, skills and hands-on experience needed to get their EY career off to a flying start.”
For more information about graduate or apprentice opportunities at EY, please visit: www.ey.com/en_uk/careers/students