Job market still tight despite layoffs, EY CEO says

EY chief executive officer Carmine Di Sibio said “it’s business as usual” when it comes to hiring, with a tight job market even as several big firms begin to cut staff. 

“We’re not struggling to source talent, but it’s not like we’re seeing a rash of talent that’s all of a sudden available,” Di Sibio said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Madison Mills at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “If you just read the headlines around what’s going on, you might think, there are all kinds of people who know technology out there.”

Tech firms including Amazon.com, Microsoft and Salesforce are cutting workers this year, though Di Sibio pointed out that reductions in the sector were coming after a period of intense hiring.

Professional services firm EY employs around 400,000 globally and expects to hire about 220,000 people in the twelve months to July. If the planned breakup of its auditing and consulting divisions takes effect, the latter is set to employ as many as 230,000, with the remainder staying with the audit arm, according to Di Sibio.

Di Sibio also said EY could delay the public listing of its consulting arm – initially planned for the end of this year – until early 2024 depending on market conditions. BLOOMBERG