I have SALT Manager offers at KPMG and EY. I have been in-house for past 2 years but my position will be eliminated in a month due to restructuring. The role is suppose to be a mix of consulting and compliance. Any input on cultures and work life balance. Concerned as I have a young child. I’d prefer to be in-house but tough market. EY KPMG
EY tax is in a bit of a transformation period since we have moved to a US national model (no regions or regional leaders). There’s been a significant increase in pressure towards utilization (chargeable hours). And very recently, what’s being filtered down is that even if you are on target to hit your utilization goal for the year, you need to keep the intensity of seeking out and completing work until you are at 40 chargeable hours / week (and higher within busy season). The messaging is that why should you be able to work 35 chargeable hours when your peers are working 55 hrs (regardless how busy you were versus them earlier in the year). So it’s a really intense time to be in EY Tax unfortunately and I think these new mandates will lead to high turnover (which we already have) and an eventual loosening of these policies to retain what’s left (but that won’t be for awhile). So good luck!
I’ve worked at both. “WLB” will be pretty non existent at both after a year, I would go to the one with the larger local team or market. I do strongly prefer my time at KPMG, but EY generally has better and more clients.
I have worked for both; there’s not really a difference between firms. I’ve been much happier at EY, but that’s really all because I work for a partner in my local office who looks out for their people. Pick the one with the best local team, or (assuming you interviewed with local partners) pick the partner you feel will support you the most.
If you are good with working 60 hours per week during busy season?
Which office?
I also saw them clear off a manager’s schedule so they could help out on a “huge” project only to have it fall through and then the manager was counseled out because they couldn’t rebook their schedule fast enough.
Have worked for both…
Go to whichever you liked the best. B4 WLB is about the same across firms…
In general the big 4 firms are very similar. There can be large variance in terms of specific teams and/or specific markets but you really won’t know until you are working there or can get some reliable insight (the reliable part is hard as people tend to lose objectivity when they had a bad experience).
In the absence of any reliable insider information, I suggest you go with whichever firm you got a better impression on from your interviews.
I can tell you I have always been overall happy with KPMG tax, but I’m not your area or market.