After months of waiting, workers in Australia were reportedly given further details about the changes last Wednesday, before the first group of affected staff were informed of their redundancies on Monday.<\/p>\n
Director of union group Professionals Australia, Paul Inglis, told Information Age that around 190 employees are expected to have entered a two-week consultation period, \u201calthough the final number has not yet been confirmed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is understood to be the beginning of a broader restructuring process that is expected to continue through to the 2027 financial year, with further rounds of redundancies anticipated,\u201d Inglis said.<\/p>\n
WiseTech declined to confirm how many Australian staff were caught up in the current round of cuts, citing ongoing consultations.<\/p>\n
The firm previously had around 3,600 staff, according to its last annual report.<\/p>\n
WiseTech accused of treating workers \u2018more like variables than humans\u2019<\/p>\n
Professionals Australia said the three months between WiseTech\u2019s February announcement of impending cuts and its confirmation of the first affected workers caused some employees to experience \u201cperiods of extreme stress, sleeplessness, and anxiety\u201d.<\/p>\n
The union said staff had been told their roles could be overtaken by AI but were still \u201cstill being expected to perform at full capacity through months of uncertainty\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cMembers are deeply unhappy with the way the process has been handled,\u201d Inglis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been multiple reports of employees being abruptly locked out of offices and car parks while still onsite, effectively cutting off access without warning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivi Olszewska, a researcher and user experience designer who said she was laid off after more than seven years at WiseTech, wrote on LinkedIn<\/a> on Tuesday that the company\u2019s handling of the cuts had been \u201cprofoundly damaging\u201d.<\/p>\n She accused WiseTech of not being transparent with its employees, and of treating workers \u201cmore like variables in a strategy than humans living through it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps most disappointing was seeing employees who were already under immense stress and uncertainty subjected at times to narratives that felt dismissive, defensive, or unfairly characterising their concerns, rather than engaging with them constructively,\u201d Olszewska wrote.<\/p>\n Sydney-based WiseTech product specialist Sharon Thomas said she was also impacted by the cuts, after what she called \u201can agonising wait of three months\u201d.<\/p>\n Thomas, who said her Australian work visa ends in September, wrote on LinkedIn<\/a> that she had already used AI tools to automate parts of her job, but \u201cnever\u201d thought she, or her role, would be made redundant.<\/p>\n A WiseTech spokesperson told Information Age the company has sought to \u201cengage and consult with our teams\u202fin a structured and phased manner\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause this is true organisational\u202ftransformation,\u202fand\u202fnot a cost cutting exercise, it has taken time to work through the process of redesigning our future portfolios, future team structures and to allow for consultation with relevant stakeholders to take place,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n WiseTech recognised that its restructure \u201ccreates uncertainty\u201d, said the spokesperson, who added that the firm is \u201ccommitted to supporting our people through this period of change\u201d, including by offering them platforms to raise concerns anonymously.<\/p>\n \u201cNo final decisions will be made about any individual roles until the relevant requirements for each local jurisdiction have been met,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u2018Threat of violence\u2019 sent to CEO<\/p>\n Amid rising tensions over WiseTech\u2019s layoffs, a \u201chandwritten threat of violence\u201d was allegedly made against CEO Zubin Appoo earlier this month, according to an email received by staff on Sunday and obtained by the Australian Financial Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n WiseTech\u2019s cofounder Richard White \u2013 who stepped down as CEO in 2024<\/a> while mired in controversy \u2013 reportedly told staff the threat also contained \u201cpersonal information and offensive comments directed at members of [Appoo\u2019s] family\u201d.<\/p>\n The billionaire reportedly said the matter had been reported to police, and security at WiseTech\u2019s Sydney office had been increased.<\/p>\n There had also been \u201cseveral serious and deeply concerning incidents involving personal attacks, vitriol and deeply offensive behavior in group chats\u201d relating to WiseTech\u2019s restructure, White said.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of what people think about the restructure, AI, WiseTech, or any member of leadership, WiseTech has zero tolerance for threats of violence, abuse, intimidation, harassment, vitriol or offensive behavior against anyone,\u201d he reportedly wrote.<\/p>\n WiseTech declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by Information Age, but echoed White\u2019s statement of zero tolerance.<\/p>\n Inglis from Professionals Australia said \u201cany threat of violence is completely unacceptable and is not supported in any way\u201d.<\/p>\n More than 590 WiseTech employees \u2013 supposedly a majority of the company\u2019s Australian technical workforce \u2013 had signed a petition to Appoo calling for \u201cfair redundancy packages, transparency and genuine consultation\u201d, according to Professionals Australia.<\/p>\n The union alleged those concerns had \u201clargely been ignored\u201d and that WiseTech had only agreed to redundancy packages with \u201cminimum legal entitlements\u201d.<\/p>\n A WiseTech spokesperson said, “We respect the role of employee representatives and\u202fhave continued to\u202fengage constructively with\u202four people and their representatives\u202fduring the AI transformation process.\u201d<\/p>\n AI not mentioned in email to China staff<\/p>\n Tensions also rose between WiseTech and its workers after staff in China were sent emails about the impending job cuts which did not mention AI \u2013 while emails received by staff in other countries did mention the technology.<\/p>\n “Our AI Transformation \u2013 next steps\u201d was the subject line of the email received by workers outside of China, according to the Australian Financial Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n The email to staff inside China was reportedly titled \u201cOur global transformation \u2013 next steps\u201d, and did not contain any references to AI.<\/p>\n
\nWiseTech Global says it is undergoing a ‘deep AI transformation’ as part of a two-year restructure. Image: WiseTech Global<\/p>\n
\nWiseTech Global CEO Zubin Appoo (pictured) allegedly received a written threat of violence earlier this month. Image: WiseTech Global<\/p>\n