Defeated, stressed and unwanted: ex-Virgin staff speak out

Former Virgin staff have described how they felt ‘defeated, stressed and unwanted’ by the airline’s new head of corporate affairs who quit amid an internal investigation.

Concerns about changes in the previously lauded workplace culture at Virgin Australia were raised soon after the sale to Bain Capital. Picture: AAP

Recently departed Virgin Australia employees have described how they felt defeated, stressed and unwanted after the commencement of a new corporate affairs chief, who resigned on the weekend amid an internal investigation into her workplace behaviour.

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka appointed Moksha Watts as part of her executive leadership team at the start of the year, shortly after the airline’s sale to Bain Capital. On Sunday, Ms Hrdlicka issued a note to staff ­informing them of Ms Watts’ departure after just eight months.

“(Ms Watts) felt it was in her best interests and the best interests of the company to resign,” wrote Ms Hrdlicka.

Among those to quit following Ms Watts’ appointment were the airline’s sustainability manager, a social media manager, two corporate communications staff and a government relations adviser.

It’s understood only one person employed in the corporate affairs team before the sale to Bain ­remained in the department. Although some former workers were subject to nondisclosure agreements preventing them from discussing their experience at Virgin, others revealed how they were never asked about their roles at the airline and felt ignored and unwanted by Ms Watts.

“We’d just come out of a pretty horrendous time with the bankruptcy and sale (to Bain Capital),” one ex-employee told The Australian. “But instead of a new beginning it just seemed to go from bad to worse. Our team had already gone from 20 people to five.”

Moksha Watts resigned as Virgin Australia's chief of corporate affairs during an internal review of her workplace behaviour.

In a LinkedIn post, one former staffer wrote how his work day went from “nothing less than a 6/10 to suddenly having a lot of 1/10 days”.

“I was constantly feeling defeated and stressed and I couldn’t switch off,” he wrote.

He said it wasn’t until a colleague asked if he was okay, he realised he “really wasn’t”.

“The stress took a huge toll on me physically and mentally,” said the former employee, who had worked for Virgin for just over eight years.

“You’ve got to pick your battles and I ultimately decided that even my dream job at my dream company wasn’t worth the toll.

“Across the division, the stories were the same – or much worse. Almost every staff member across our departments left.”

The Australian understands one member of the corporate affairs team returned to her job from maternity leave but left soon after.

Another ex-employee said it was a shock to learn an external recruitment agency had been hired to find staff that they knew nothing about.

Ms Watts declined to comment and asked that any questions be referred to Virgin Australia who also refused to expand on a note to staff issued by CEO Jayne Hrdlicka on Sunday.

“Moksha joined Virgin Australia in March 2021 and has done a significant and valued job with governments, key stakeholders and crafting the company’s sustainability policy,” Ms Hrdlicka said in the message.

She added that the airline aimed to be “a safe and positive workplace for everyone”. “Grievances of any nature will be taken seriously and we follow due process in investigating in order to be fair to everyone involved.”

Concerns about changes in the previously lauded workplace culture at Virgin Australia were raised soon after the sale to Bain Capital and the brutal knifing of former CEO Paul Scurrah.