Fired for multitasking: EY employees sacked for taking online training sessions simultaneously

Dozens of Ernst & Young employees in the United States have been terminated for concurrently taking online training sessions, according to reports.

EY said it terminated the individuals for violating the company’s Global Code of Conduct and US Learning Policy, Quartz reported, citing The Financial Times.

“At EY, our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken on any violation of our Code of Conduct and/or US Learning Policy,” an EY spokesperson said.

The terminated employees were allegedly taking more than one online course simultaneously during the company’s “EY Ignite Learning Week” in May.

Fired for multitasking

However, the sacked employees told The Financial Times that their punishment seemed disproportionate to their actions.

According to the employees, they did not realise that they could get terminated for multitasking, especially since they were under the impression that training on digital brands and AI was unimportant, Quartz reported.

One terminated employee also told The Financial Times that the company “breeds a culture of multitasking.”

“If you are forced to bill 45 hours a week and do many more hours of internal work, how can it not?” the employee told the news outlet.

Earlier this year, Wells Fargo also axed more than a dozen employees for the “simulation of keyboard activity” to give the impression that they were working.

“Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behaviour,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson previously said.