Wage stagnation at DXC Technology means tech workers “have effectively endured a massive real pay cut,” union officials said as five days of rolling strikes kicked off on Friday.
There are concerns the action could threaten government services and claims DXC engaged scabs to cross picket lines.
The decision to take strike action came after over 15 months of negotiations between DXC, its workers, and service sector bodies Professionals Australia and the Australian Services Union (ASU) that had so far produced few meaningful outcomes and spurred stop-work action in late March.
Hundreds of DXC workers have not had a pay rise in five years despite the US based company, whose 5,000 Australian employees generated revenues of $2.35 billion during 2023-24, contributing to global profits of $538 million (US$389 million) last year.
This, over a period when cost of living in Australia increased by over 24 per cent – something that South Australian DXC software monitoring and automation specialist Nathaniel Cosford said was a major motivator behind his support for the action.
“With DXC’s proposed offer I stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars every year,” Cosford said, adding while “most of us haven’t taken strike action before [the strike] is showing that tech workers do have power [and] showing we do have rights in general.”
Reports suggested DXC had offered workers a 2.5 per cent pay increase for the first year, then 3 per cent for each of years two and three – with the offer dismissed as “inadequate” and spurring the decision to commence the second round of strikes.
Adding insult to injury, DXC admitted in 2023 that it had been underpaying its workers since 2017, with Professionals Australia noting that instead of addressing its past underpayments – to software developers, infrastructure specialists and security analysts – DXC “brought in strikebreakers”.
The ICT workers “keep Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and major government agencies running every single day,” Professionals Australia director of tech Paul Inglis said before the March strikes, and absent guaranteed wage increases “have been left with no choice but to take action.”
A new groove for IT workers
Industrial disputes and strike action are common in Australia, with 49,500 workers involved in 56 new and 21 ongoing industrial disputes during the fourth quarter of 2025 alone – with 69,600 working days lost during the quarter and 166,700 working days lost during 2025.
While enterprise bargaining disputes do break out occasionally in the ICT industry and mass layoffs are considered par for the course, walking off the job is all but unheard of – with the actions against DXC said to be the first time Australian IT workers have undergone an actual stop-work.
The decision to take protected strike action in mid-March saw just 12 votes were cast in the unanimous ASU Protected Action Ballot (PAB), while nearly all of the 197 ballots cast in the Professionals Australia action against DXC were in favour of strike action.
“I don’t know if anyone else has noticed but the cost of living has gone through the roof lately,” DXC database engineer ‘David’ said. “Not only have I not received a pay increase but over 10 years I’ve received a massive decrease.”
“We haven’t been treated fairly and it’s now time for action to be treated as equals.”
Threatening key government functions
The five days of strike action overlapped with Saturday’s high-profile Farrer by-election, forcing DXC to implement contingency plans as striking workers refused to work on-call or overtime across the weekend.
The AEC said there would be no impact to their operations as a result of the strike while the ATO, another major DXC client, said it was monitoring for any potential service interruptions but did not anticipate any issues.
DXC is reportedly conducting an audit of its wages paid since 1 July 2017 and claims it is set to start repaying backpay “in waves” this month.
Whatever the impact of the strike action, it’s the latest in a series of contentious moves by DXC – which last year closed its Hobart delivery centre, moving its team to offices in Adelaide and Manila, Philippines in a move that affected 77 jobs and left at least 15 workers unemployed.
