WiseTech reports productivity surge amid workforce reductions

WiseTech Global is making a bold, if uncomfortable, argument: fewer people, more output. The Australian logistics software company says its adoption of AI tools has driven measurable productivity gains across product development and customer service, even as it executes a plan to eliminate roughly 2,000 jobs from its 7,000-person workforce. The market’s verdict was swift and decisive. Shares climbed 11.1% on the day WiseTech announced the restructuring alongside half-year results showing revenue of $672 million, a 76% jump. The scope of the cuts The layoffs represent close to 30% of WiseTech’s global headcount and are being rolled out in phases. The first wave, roughly 500 roles, landed in the first half of fiscal year 2026. The remaining reductions are slated for the second half of FY2026 and into FY2027. Up to half of the cuts are concentrated in product development and customer service, which are the exact areas where AI integration has been most aggressive. CEO Zubin Appoo has been blunt about the company’s direction, declaring that the era of manual coding is effectively over. That’s a striking statement from the leader of a company that, just a year earlier, had doubled its w...