New Zealand-founded workforce management software company Simplifi is set to expand into Australia, with the aim of targeting the country’s healthcare, aged-care and disability sectors.
In announcing the expansion, Simplifi acknowledged the current labour shortages in those sectors and pledged to keep a human customer service team “in the face of AI job cuts.”
The company expects to have staff in the Queensland, NSW and Western Australian markets by the end of 2026 to grow sales and handle customer queries. Simplifi’s overall headcount is expected to rise to 25 by the end of 2026.
Simplifi founder and managing director Rhys Greensill said the company was exploring AI solutions that could enhance experience within the platform, but added it would remain a “human-centric organisation – as incumbent platforms rely on ticketing systems and significant manual override by the customer.”
“We’re living through unprecedented times. On the one hand, our healthcare, aged-care and disability sectors are struggling to fill rosters amid staff shortages. On the other hand, AI is coming for our call centre jobs,” Mr Greensill said.
“Simplifi has gained traction in the New Zealand market because we’ve listened to our customers. They wanted a system that minimises their compliance risk, eliminates manual work and negates the need for unnecessary, expensive casual staffing.
“More importantly, they want someone who can answer their questions at the other end of the phone. We see the same problems going unsolved in the Australian market at a much bigger scale.”
Simplifi would initially focus on sectors with complex awards such as the healthcare, aged-care, disability and retail sectors.
Mr Greensill said Simplifi’s platform offered dedicated account managers for each of their customers.
“AI-powered customer service teams are the hallmark of a bad product. We employ humans because we’ve built a product that works.”
Simplifi’s cloud-based SaaS platform supports more than 2,300 organisations – including New Zealand’s largest company, Foodstuffs – to manage their permanent and casual employees.
Simplifi said Australian organisations faced two overlapping challenges – complex awards systems, which risk “rostering errors and compliance risk,” while labour shortages meant increased reliance on “expensive casual staff.”
The company also pointed to “major AI redundancy rounds” across Australia – including at Atlassian, Wisetech and Block (previously AfterPay) – as well as cuts at companies such as Commonwealth Bank, which it said were focussed on customer service and call centres.
Simplifi pointed to a reported 16 per cent “collapse” in customer service roles in the US, which it noted “thanks to AI, could be a harbinger of what’s to come in Australia.”
Add Comment