The boss of an Australia-based software company has received 'threats of violence' amid a brutal round of redundancies, with police alerted and security increased.
WiseTech Global chief executive Zubin Appoo reportedly received a 'handwritten threat of violence' last week that contained personal information and offensive comments directed at members of his family.
In an email to staff on Sunday evening, seen by the Australian Financial Review, co-founder and billionaire businessman Richard White slammed those involved.
'In recent weeks there have been several serious and deeply concerning incidents involving personal attacks, vitriol and deeply offensive behaviour in group chats (on multiple platforms) relating to our transformation and restructure,' he said.
'This is clearly a small minority of our people, and we expect that the vast majority of our people would be horrified at what we are seeing.'
It came just days after the company began its 2,000-strong redundancy round, with many staff frustrated over the lack of communication about the cuts.
The company first announced it would axe almost a third of its workforce in February.
Mr White said WiseTech had notified police and implemented increased security measures at the Sydney office, which is located in Alexandria.
WiseTech co-founder Richard White (pictured) has said the software company's chief executive had received handwritten threats
WiseTech has now put in increased security measures at its Sydney office in Alexandria
WiseTech Global chief executive Zubin Appoo (pictured) reportedly received threats last week after 2,000 employees were made redundant
'These measures were implemented because of the serious nature of the threat, and further escalation over the weekend,' he said.
'Let us be absolutely clear. Regardless of what people think about the restructure, AI, WiseTech, or any member of leadership, WiseTech has zero tolerance for threats of violence, abuse, intimidation, harassment, vitriol or offensive behaviour against anyone.'
Staff were reportedly incensed after WiseTech continued to extend consultation deadlines.
They were also frustrated by comments made by Mr White in the media about the role of artificial intelligence (AI).
At a Macquarie Bank investment conference earlier this month, Mr White said an AI agent could be trained in as little as 15 minutes to follow instructions that many human workers took weeks to understand.
'It doesn't take much effort to convince people, in the end, that they're stupid to be paying $100 for labour when you can pay $2 for the AI,' he said.
A WiseTech Global spokesperson told the Daily Mail they could not comment any further on the matter while it is under investigation.
'Given the matter is under police investigation, we will not be providing any further comment in relation to this, other than to say that WiseTech has zero tolerance for threats of violence, abuse, intimidation, harassment, vitriol or offensive behaviour against anyone,' the spokesperson said.
The Daily Mail has contacted NSW Police for comment.