After the death of a young employee at accountancy giant Ernst & Young (EY), which has placed the company under public scrutiny for its exploitative work culture, the firm’s Chairman Rajiv Memani has taken to social media to address the unfortunate incident.
In a LinkedIn Post, Memani said that the company is committed to providing a healthy work environment to its employees.
“Over the past few days, I am aware that people have in their social media posts commented on some of our work practices. It has always been very important to us to create a healthy workplace and we attach the highest importance to the well-being of our people. I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my top-most priority and I will personally champion this objective. I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished,” Memani wrote.
The death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil came to light when a letter written by Anna's mother Anita Augustine to EY Chairman Rajiv Memani, which highlighted instances of exploitative and toxic work environment at the company, went viral on social media.
The letter even highlighted how no one from the EY was present at Anna’s funeral.
Addressing the letter, Memani said in his post, “I am deeply saddened and as a father, I can only imagine Ms Augustine’s grief. I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives. I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna’s funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again.”
