A growing company, but not every workforce grew
On October 8, reporting on EY's fiscal 2026 results put global revenue at $57 billion, with 4.7% reported revenue growth. AI-related services revenue rose 49%, and total headcount increased by nearly 10,000 to approximately 415,000.
The regional picture is more surprising. EY's Americas workforce fell by about 4,500, or 5%, while its category of Global Entities gained more than 10,000 people. The same organization expanded overall while different parts moved sharply in opposite directions.
These numbers do not tell us that AI displaced 4,500 workers, nor that 4,500 roles were relocated overseas. The first question is where work and responsibility now sit.
The divergence was visible one year earlier
EY's official FY2025 disclosure shows Americas headcount falling from 92,638 in FY2024 to 92,030 in FY2025, a decline of 608. Over the same period, Global Entities rose from 74,918 to 81,990, an increase of 7,072.
FY2026 reporting again shows Americas headcount declining and Global Entities expanding. The pattern is not limited to a single quarterly headline.
But the reasons for the two years' changes cannot be assumed identical. Hiring, attrition, demand, reporting categories and operating-model redesign can all affect headcount. Neither disclosure traces individual job transfers.
Global Entities does not simply mean offshore staff
EY defines Global Entities as global services and functions, including its Global Delivery Services (GDS) organization. GDS supports EY member firms' client-service teams and internal enablement operations across countries.
That makes it inaccurate to equate more than 10,000 additional Global Entities employees with the same number of new offshore outsourcing roles. The category encompasses other shared functions as well.
The relevant fact is narrower and more defensible: employment changed very differently in client-market geographies and in the global support category. What determines that boundary is worth examining.
Managed Services added a second signal
EY's Managed Services business reached approximately $7 billion of revenue, up 13%, according to the Financial Times. These offerings can involve ongoing delivery of tax, finance, technology, cyber and other enterprise activities.
Advising a client on how to reorganize a function differs from operating part of that function over time. Continuous service delivery demands repeatable processes, control, quality assurance, operational technology and a clear service owner.
Still, Managed Services is a service-revenue category, whereas Global Entities is a personnel-reporting category. Growing revenue in the former does not prove that it caused the headcount shift in the latter.
AI growth and hiring growth are not mutually exclusive
EY's AI-related services growth accelerated from 30% in FY2025 to 49% in FY2026. It also reported $448 million in employee training and development and completed its first full fiscal year after reducing its geographic regions from 18 to 10.
AI may reduce time spent on parts of existing professional work while also creating client demand for data integration, governance, workflow redesign and implementation at scale. Different roles and regions need not move in parallel.
Headcount totals alone cannot establish which jobs were eliminated through automation or added because of it. That would require changes at the role, team, contract and project level.
The real operating-model decision has three boundaries
Consider a professional-services group operating across several countries. Which people must remain close to the customer to understand local market context, build trust and interpret regulation? Which repeatable tasks can be delivered through a common service organization? And who remains accountable for the quality and consequences of the result?
Cost per employee is only one input. Data residency, permissions, language and time zones, response-time commitments, security incidents and regulatory obligations may outweigh the apparent savings of shared delivery.
These are decision questions prompted by EY's numbers, not a claim that EY itself has moved a particular client engagement to another country.
Talent plans should follow where judgment is required
A smaller regional workforce does not automatically mean client-facing expertise has become less important. A larger shared-services workforce does not mean those roles are interchangeable or lower value.
Before assigning recruitment budgets, a global organization should map local judgment, standardized execution, and cross-border quality ownership. Each position can demand a different combination of skills, authority and proximity to customers.
The same test is relevant to professionals: which elements of their work can be standardized, and which require them to understand exceptions, context and accountability?
BANSEOG VIEW | Growth and delivery do not have to share a location
EY expanded in aggregate, but growth was uneven. Americas headcount fell in both FY2025 and FY2026 while the Global Entities category grew. AI-related services and Managed Services were growing at the same time.
The numbers are not evidence that automation caused regional cuts or that people were moved overseas. They are evidence that global revenue and aggregate headcount growth need not translate into proportional growth in each geography.
The strategic question for the next workforce plan is not just how many people to add. It is where customer relationships, service execution and final responsibility should reside.
BANSEOG VIEW
Banseog View — three locations of organizational value
EY's FY2025 disclosure and FY2026 reporting show declining Americas headcount alongside growth in Global Entities.
Global Entities is broader than GDS and does not establish specific offshoring or AI-driven layoffs.
Workforce design should distinguish the location of client relationships, repeatable execution and ultimate accountability.
SOURCES
Primary sources and references
- Business Insider — EY FY2026 workforce and AI-services results
October 8, 2026. Reports nearly 10,000 net new employees globally, about 4,500 fewer in the Americas, growth in Global Entities, 49% AI-related revenue growth and training spending.
- Financial Times — EY FY2026 results and managed-services expansion
October 8, 2026. Reports $57 billion revenue, 4.7% growth, and roughly $7 billion in managed-services revenue, up 13%.
- EY — official FY2025 global revenue and people tables
October 15, 2025. Official FY2024–FY2025 Americas and Global Entities headcount, with EY's definition of Global Entities.
- EY — Managed Services overview
Official description of ongoing managed operations across tax, finance, cybersecurity, technology and other functions.
FY2025 geographic workforce figures are taken from EY's official tables. The FY2026 figures for global headcount, Americas reductions and Global Entities growth are approximate values reported on October 8, 2026. These results do not prove employee relocation, automation-led layoffs or a causal link from Managed Services revenue to Global Entities staffing. Forward-looking implications for organizational and talent design are independent Banseog analysis.