‘Leave now’: Tense scenes after AI job cuts at Aussie tech company WiseTechThere were tense scenes at a Sydney headquarters where burly security guards escorted workers to their cars after news of AI job cuts.Harrison Christian6 min readFebruary 26, 2026 - 10:20AMWiseTech Global’s office was patrolled by burly security guards who escorted workers to their cars after news of thousands of AI job cuts, and threatened to call the police as news.com.au tried to speak to them.Chief executive Zubin Appoo on Wednesday morning announced about 2,000 redundancies over the next two years, as the Aussie tech giant pivots heavily towards artificial intelligence.Approached by news.com.au at the company’s Alexandria building that afternoon, one worker said they’d been kept in the dark.“We don’t know anything. We’ll find out later today, there’s a meeting scheduled for 3pm,” they said.“We’re not allowed to talk to you mate,” said another. WiseTech’s Sydney office was heavily guarded by security after news of job cuts on Wednesday. Picture: SuppliedWiseTech Global Chief Executive Zubin Appoo announced about 2000 redundancies over the next two years as the Aussie tech giant pivots heavily towards artificial intelligence.MORE: What you need to know about being made redundantAs the afternoon wore on, at least half a dozen security guards established a perimeter around the building and could be seen escorting workers to their cars.The staff members either ignored questions or said, “I’m not allowed to talk.”Eventually, news.com.au was moved on after security claimed they had called the police.WiseTech Global has been asked for comment on their security measures. On Wednesday, the company confirmed the redundancies would affect about 29 per cent of staff across 40 countries, with some teams expected to be slashed by as much as half. It remains unclear how many Australian jobs will be affected.Product and development, along with customer service roles, will be among the first impacted as AI is rolled out across both its software platforms and internal operations.WiseTech employed more than 3,600 people worldwide as of June 30, 2025.About half a dozen security guards established a perimeter around the building. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki ShortThe company’s share price jumped 11 per cent on Wednesday’s news, but it has been in broad decline for years. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki ShortMORE: Future jobs: Emerging industries and jobs of the future“Software development has experienced its most significant shift in decades,” Mr Appoo said.“I am prepared to say this clearly: The era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over.“AI amplifies the productivity of our expertise in logistics and trade, the rich datasets that WiseTech holds, and the network advantage that we have built over 30 years. And it allows us to move faster from ideas to real customer value through the efficiencies it brings in software development and product creation.”The company’s share price jumped 11 per cent on Wednesday’s news, but it has been in broad decline for years, dropping 66 per cent from its all-time high of $142 in November 2024.That slide wasn’t helped by the resignation of Richard White from the CEO position in October 2024 after the billionaire founder became embroiled in a personal scandal.Software companies have been hit with fears of disruption recently, as investors worry that AI will erode pricing power and make products easier to replicate.WiseTech, which makes software that runs global freight logistics, is no exception.But job losses are hitting other sectors as well, with Commonwealth Bank revealing this week it would cut 300 roles as it rolled out a $90 million plan for an AI-ready workforce.CBA chief Matt Comyn said businesses and staff had to prepare for a future where AI held a bigger role.“Australia has to get really good at adopting this technology and whatever follows it,” he said.‘We tried to warn you’: Top AI expert says we aren’t prepared The mass sacking at WiseTech came just hours after news.com.au published a story about a warning from UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh at the National Press Club.Prof Walsh’s speech titled “AI: doom or boom?” detailed both the “extraordinary opportunity” and the “serious threat to Australian society” posed by the technology.UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh telling Australia’s leaders about AI at the National Press Club.He said we have a generational opportunity to make the most of AI, but questioned if we are doing our best to mitigate all the glaringly obvious risks.“In hindsight, the title should not be boom or doom, but boom AND doom,” Prof Walsh said. “Because my childhood dreams are turning into a reality that is both good and bad.”Aussie loses $7.2 billion in utter bloodbathWiseTech’s call comes as one of Australia’s richest men has lost almost half his net worth amid a brutal global tech sell-off sparked by fears AI will make his company obsolete.Mike Cannon-Brookes, a climate activist and net zero champion who was worth $14.9 billion just last year, now has a net worth of around $7.7 billion as his company Atlassian’s share price continues a brutal downward spiral.He came out swinging this week saying claims AI would kill his company are “ludicrous.”Atlassian is a leading Australian-American software company that develops products for software development, project management, and team collaboration.The company became a NASDAQ-listed tech powerhouse that generated billions of dollars in revenue, but its share price has plummeted almost 74 per cent in the past 12 months.MORE: Inside billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ $15m penthouseIt hit a 52-week low this week as it sank by a further 12.57 per cent to US$73.19 a share.At its peak in the 2021 tech bubble, the company was valued at a massive $US162 billion. Today, its market cap has shrivelled to approximately $US22.25 billion.One of the big factors driving this decline is the fear that AI makes traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies like Atlassian obsolete.In early February 2026, companies like Anthropic and OpenAI released “AI Agents” that can autonomously manage tasks and write code. Investors fear these agents will replace the human software developers who are Atlassian’s primary users.Atlassian also makes money based on how many “seats” (users) a company pays for. If a firm uses AI to do the work of 10 people with just 2, for example, Atlassian loses 80 per cent of its revenue from that client.Atlassian’s large corporate customers may, in the future, not need as many IT staff given AI can now do many tech workers’ roles, such as coding.CEO of Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brookes at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin OllmanMORE: Mystery: Cannon Brookes’ $31bn ex cash split On the surface at least, Mr Cannon-Brookes’ Sydney-founded company is still growing. It reported an adjusted net profit of $US320.9 million in the December quarter, up from $US255.6 million in the prior corresponding quarter in December 2024. Total sales also grew 23 per cent to $US1.6 billion.However, investors are clearly not impressed with the rate of growth and are spooked by projections showing growth slowing from 23 per cent down toward the high teens. In the brutal world of Wall St trading, any sign of deceleration can lead to a massive sell-off.Despite this, Mr Cannon-Brookes told investors he “couldn’t be more bullish” about the opportunities ahead, despite relentlessly selling his own shares in the company daily.The Nightly reports he kept selling 7665 shares on a daily basis even in the month prior to the results at prices ranging from $US161.11 (AU$227) a share on January 8 to $US105.14 on February 4.Mr Cannon-Brookes appeared on venture capitalist Harry Stebbings’ 20VC podcast this week, saying claims that SaaS is dead were “ludicrous”.Atlassian has had a bad year.“Apparently, we’re some sort of cavemen sitting around banging on clicky, clacky keyboards and writing assembly code who haven’t figured out large language models,” he said. “We’re not just bolting on AI features, we’re building it.”Atlassian freezes hiringAmid the share price tumble and AI fears, Atlassian this week called a halt on hiring engineers and filling other related roles, rolling back its global recruitment.Desperate applicants claim they’ve been “ghosted” or had offers snatched away at the eleventh hour.Job seekers have taken to social media and employee forums like Blind to vent their frustrations after being caught in the sudden recruitment shutdown.“Got an [engineering] offer ... After three weeks of silence I finally messaged the hiring manager on LinkedIn they told me its a hiring freezing [sic],” one person posted on employee forum Blind.Atlassian Tower is pictured during its construction. Picture: NewsWire Dylan Coker“Same my interview in 6 hours was just cancelled and all I was told was the position is no longer available. Very frustrating as I’ve been prepping for weeks,” another post from last week reads.Atlassian employs more than 12,000 people and usually has hundreds of positions available. But its global jobs board now shows just 40 vacancies in sales and a dozen positions for general interns and graduates.Read related topics:SydneyMore related storiesLeaders‘I did’: Bill Gates’ humiliating admissionBillionaire Bill Gates has admitted to having affairs with two Russian women during his marriage amid a humiliating apology to staff.Read moreFlights‘Sharp increase’: Qantas boss’ warningQantas has revealed its staggering half-yearly results, and despite a huge profit, the airline has issued a warning to Aussie travellers.Read moreAustralian MarketsTech stocks, Woolies push ASX to new highThe Australian sharemarket has soared to a new record high off the back of surging tech stocks, which have defied AI disruption fears.Read more