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‘We did very very poorly’: Airwallex vows to improve culture amid staff survey backlash
Closely watched payments unicorn Airwallex has vowed to improve its internal culture after employees in its legal and compliance departments savaged the company in a survey measuring job satisfaction.
Leaked screenshots from an internal messaging platform sent in January, obtained by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, show the majority of Airwallex compliance and legal employees would not recommend it as a place to work to others at that time. These teams registered an employee net promoter score (eNPS) of between negative 12 and negative 15 in a survey taken at the end of last year.
Airwallex scored a negative result in a survey that measures job satisfaction across its compliance and legal operations. Credit:
The eNPS is a commonly used tool to measure corporate culture and identify problems in an organisation, and a score below zero is considered a sign that a company needs to make significant changes.
Airwallex was founded in Melbourne and has become one of the nation’s most celebrated tech startups. It is the fastest startup in Australia to achieve ‘unicorn’ status – a private market valuation of more than $US1 billion. The company is challenging big banks by offering cheaper and quicker solutions for sending money offshore.
The leaked screenshots provide a glimpse into the high pressure environment inside technology unicorns, and also the emphasis startups place on internal culture in a fiercely competitive environment for talent.
Airwallex’s top lawyer Jeanette Chan told employees in January she felt “very bad” about the job satisfaction score for the compliance and legal teams, screenshots show.
“We did very very poorly. Probably the worst teams. I feel very bad,” she said. “Most of you feel Airwallex is not a great place to work and you would not recommend it to your friends or even acquaintances.”
Ms Chan, who joined the company in August 2019, called on staff to open up about their concerns and outlined a determination to find an “agreement on the issues to fix”.
“What can I do better? What can management do better? I take it as a failure on my part and I need to reflect on what I need to do. I would like your help to get Airwallex a better place to work for the legal/compliance licensing teams.”
A subsequent eNPS survey saw the team’s ratings improve to positive 15, according to the company, out of a best possible score of 100. Airwallex declined to provide the company-wide scores.
A spokeswoman for Airwallex said the eNPS surveys are used to help the company understand how the fintech can be a better place to work.
“Making Airwallex a great place to work is a key priority for a fast-growing company like us. Engaging our teams in an open and transparent manner to understand challenges and how we solve them is how we get better,” the spokeswoman said.
The Age and Herald has previously reported that Airwallex was rejected by both NAB and Citi Group for key banking services over concerns about its ability to comply with strict anti-money laundering laws.
Airwallex has consistently denied any problems with its approach to compliance or culture, pointing to a range of workplace benefits it offers including generous paid parental leave and subsidised yoga. The spokeswoman said it would be “wrong to make any link” between job satisfaction surveys and problems with compliance.
“There is no correlation between an eNPS score with any operations of the business and it would be misleading, inaccurate and irresponsible to do so,” she said. “We conduct these surveys every three months.”
This masthead has interviewed more than 25 former Airwallex employees, who have said the company’s culture was gruelling and defined by long hours and demanding management.
“I’ve been in HR for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. If you didn’t go through it, you wouldn’t believe it was true,” said one former employee.
Former employees, who left before Ms Chan joined the company, also said the compliance and legal teams were worst affected.
“In particular for compliance, there is a culture of treating them like doormats,” said one former employee, who could not be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
“You don’t question … As soon as you do raise them, you get a target on your back,” said another.