WiseTech to Cut 2,000 Jobs as AI Replaces Human Workers

TL;DR: WiseTech will eliminate 2,000 positions – roughly 29% of its staff – within 18 months, citing AI agents that can learn a human job in minutes.

Context WiseTech, a logistics‑software firm listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, announced in February that it would cut almost a third of its global workforce across 40 countries. Employees have been waiting nearly three months for confirmation of their status, describing the uncertainty as “stressful” and “ridiculous.”

Key Facts - The company plans to dismiss 2,000 of its 7,000 employees over the next 18 months. - Product development and customer‑service teams face reductions of up to 50%. - CEO Zubin Appoo told investors that manual coding is obsolete, declaring, “The era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over.” - Co‑founder Richard White unveiled an AI‑generated credo stating, “Capacity is no longer constrained by people or time.” - White claimed an AI agent could learn a human role in 15 minutes and perform it within a few hours. - A spokesperson said the restructuring is a “real organisational transformation, not a cost‑cutting exercise,” and that no individual decisions have been finalised. - A petition on the union‑backed platform Megaphone has gathered over 300 signatures demanding transparent redundancy packages and a safe channel for employee concerns.

What It Means The layoffs illustrate a shift from traditional software engineering to AI‑driven automation. While WiseTech frames the move as a strategic transformation, staff are asked to maintain productivity while new AI tools are rolled out, creating a paradox of performance expectations amid job insecurity. The company’s AI credo suggests future capacity will be limited only by technology, not human labor, potentially accelerating further efficiency drives.

The broader industry sees mixed results: a recent NBER working paper reported that 69% of surveyed firms use AI, yet over 90% saw no impact on employment or productivity in the past three years. WiseTech’s aggressive cuts could signal an early test of AI’s disruptive potential in the logistics software sector.

Looking ahead, watch how WiseTech’s restructuring unfolds, whether the AI agents meet performance promises, and how employee negotiations shape the company’s next phase.