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‘Your craft is obsolete’: WiseTech staff in limbo as AI touted as better than humans
TL;DR
WiseTech staff face uncertainty as the company plans to cut 2,000 jobs due to AI advancements. Employees criticize the prolonged wait for layoff announcements as stressful and unreasonable.
Key points
- WiseTech plans to cut 2,000 jobs due to AI advancements
- Employees criticize the prolonged wait for layoff announcements
- Product and development, and customer service teams to be hit hardest
- AI can learn a human's job in just 15 minutes according to the founder
Mentioned in this story
WiseTechZubin Appoo
Staff at WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they’re among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in AI, with workers criticising the wait as stressful and “ridiculous”.
The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told investors an AI agent could learn a human’s job in just 15 minutes, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would lay off almost 30% of its workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months.
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Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, chief executive Zubin Appoo told an investor briefing in February.
“The era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over,” Appoo said.
WiseTech was one of a number of companies that earlier this year announced job cuts due to AI advancements. Unlike companies such as Block and Atlassian, which told affected staff at the time of announcement, WiseTech staff are still unsure about their future.
A WiseTech spokesperson said in April the company was consulting teams in a “structured and phased” manner.
“Because this is real organisational transformation, and not a cost-cutting exercise, it takes time to work through the process: redesigning our portfolios, designing the appropriate team structures, consulting with relevant stakeholders and then selecting the potentially impacted roles across our workforce,” the spokesperson said.
“At this stage, no final decisions have been made about individual roles.”
The process has left staff feeling uncertain.
“People are being told to keep delivering as usual, while also helping roll out the AI tools that are supposedly meant to replace them,” one Sydney worker, Bruce* said.
“All of this while everyone’s left waiting to find out if they’re in the 50%.”
Bruce said he was working “under serious stress and uncertainty”.
“Checking my email every morning, and at the same time copping public commentary from Zubin that the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over,” he said.
Q&A
How many jobs is WiseTech planning to cut due to AI?
WiseTech plans to cut 2,000 jobs, which is nearly 30% of its workforce.
What areas of WiseTech will be most affected by the layoffs?
The product and development and customer service teams are expected to be reduced by up to 50%.
Why are WiseTech employees feeling stressed about the layoffs?
Employees have expressed that the nearly three-month wait for layoff announcements is stressful and 'ridiculous.'
What did WiseTech's founder say about AI's capabilities?
The founder claimed that an AI agent could learn a human's job in just 15 minutes.
