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Two Australian companies have laid off hundreds of staff members as tough market conditions continue to hit business hard. ASX-listed healthcare company Healius has cut 500 full-time roles since the Covid-19 pandemic started. That represents 13 per cent of the company out of its original workforce of 6500. Then last week, a software firm called Thoughtworks, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, became the latest casualty of the “tech wreck”, laying off 100 employees. The redundancies were a four per cent reduction to the company’s total number of staff. It comes as companies across almost all industries have had to cut back on workers as a recession looms amid rising interest rates, out of control inflation and difficult market conditions for businesses to flourish. Healius, which offers pathology and imaging services, confirmed to news.com.au that their workforce now resembled the same headcount it had in 2019, prior to the pandemic. A spokesperson said the 13 per cent reduction was a combination of “natural attrition and redundancies”. Most of the roles that have been dropped were support and back office roles, which has now turned into a “more efficient” operation. Staff have been offered severance packages “where applicable”. “Healius also continues to invest in frontline staff at pathology and imaging sites to enable growth and to service the demand for diagnostic testing which is having a resurgence since the end of the pandemic,” they added. The health company released its interim results last week which showed it had racked iup losses of $28.7 million in the first half of the current financial year. Its half-year profit stood at $8.1 million – a significant plunge from the year before, of $244 million. Meanwhile, The Australian reported that the regional boss of software firm Thoughtworks notified staff of the cuts in a company-wide letter. Regional managing director Kristan Vingrys wrote that Thoughtworks had “not seen the improvement we need” in the last six months, causing them to decide to lay off staff. “Unfortunately, given the changes of our operational requirements, your job is one of those that we believe are no longer required for the business, and we are considering making your job redundant,” the letter reads. “Based on the information we have now, we cannot find a suitable redeployment opportunity for you, but will discuss this further with you during a consultation meeting.” Mr Vingrys described the announcement as “upsetting and difficult” and added that it was “not an easy decision to make”. The cuts have reportedly mostly impacted newly-hired university graduates. https://www.news.com.au/finance/ ... e088a6ff39a70a78bcb https://www.news.com.au/finance/ ... 9776cb396c2b2abacc7 |
