Entrepreneur Jane Lu discusses working at big four accounting firms in wake of tragedy

Millionaire entrepreneur Jane Lu has spoken about the culture of working at a big four accounting firm following the suicide of a young employee.

Entrepreneur and self-made multi-millionaire Jane Lu has spoken about the pressures of working for a big four financial firm as scrutiny of the industry intensifies following the suicide of a young employee.

The 36-year-old started out as an accountant at KPMG for nearly three years before moving on to an analyst role at Ernst & Young, where she worked for more than two years.

“I just absolutely hated it,” she said of her time working at the big four accounting firms.

Self-made entrepreneur Jane Lu talked about the culture of the big four accounting firms.

Speaking on the podcast How I Made It, the successful fashion mogul said she often spent endless hours toiling away at spreadsheets while working at the accounting firms.

“I remember I was staring at this spreadsheet for hours,” she said.

“I had this moment of realisation that I’d wasted three hours. I was three hours closer to death and my life had not improved.”

It was a lightbulb moment for Ms Lu, who realised the pressure was incompatible with her goals.

“I thought, ‘I can’t do this for the rest of my life’,” she said.

After working in such a high-pressure environment, the entrepreneur – who dubbed herself “The Lazy CEO” – now focuses on working smarter instead of harder.

She left EY in 2010 to start her online fashion business Showpo out of her parents’ garage.

Ms Lu founded online fashion store Showpo after leaving the big four firms. Picture: Richard Dobson

“I had no choice but to start a business because it was in the middle of the global financial crisis. No one was hiring,” she explained on How I Made It.

According to the Showpo website, Ms Lu has “always believed work should be fun”. She has worked hard to create an inclusive environment of like-minded and passionate people, which has fuelled her stratospheric success.

Showpo now employs more than 100 people and has won multiple awards.

Ms Lu is one of Australia’s most successful businesswomen, with an estimated worth of $50m and an annual spot on the Financial Review’s Young Rich List since 2017.

Her comments come as Australia’s big four accounting firms grapple with allegations of toxic workplace culture after an EY employee took her own life at the Sydney office.

Aishwarya Venkatachalam, 27, was a senior auditor at the firm when she fell to her death from the 11th floor of the building on August 27.

Aishwarya Venkatachalam died at EY’s Sydney office. Picture: Instagram

She fell from the 11th floor. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

The young woman had previously told friends that she was the victim of bullying and harassment from “mean colleagues” at work, the Daily Mail reported. It is not suggested that workplace culture contributed to Ms Venkatachalam’s death.

In a statement to news.com.au, an EY spokesperson said the firm had a “zero tolerance response to bullying, harassment and racism”.

“We take any allegations that relate to these issues very seriously,” they said.

Since Ms Venkatachalam’s death, current and former employees have revealed the culture of overwork that is normalised in financial services. EY employees routinely worked 70 or 80 hours a week, especially during peak periods, former staff told news.com.au.

These claims were consistent with those made by employees from other big four accounting firms that include PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and Deloitte.

One former auditor who worked for both PwC and EY described the culture at the big four firms as an “iron man contest”.

Ernst & Young building in Sydney’s CBD was the site of the tragedy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

“You survive or leave,” he told news.com.au.

“Each level punishes the next level down. They see it as: ‘If I had to do it, then you have to do it’ and it propagates the same kind of bad behaviour.”

EY has launched a “comprehensive and wide-ranging internal ­review encompassing health and safety, security, social events” and offered counselling to all employees.

EY has been contacted for comment on its workplace culture.

Originally published as Entrepreneur Jane Lu discusses working at big four accounting firms in wake of tragedy