claiming 13 members of its core team had been notified that their positions would not be continuing, with one staff member set to miss out on maternity leave entitlements because of the situation. Isaacs told this masthead nine staff members had been made redundant.
Meanwhile, chief of staff Lucy Ormonde, a longtime offsider to Isaacs, told this masthead she had seen how Business Chicks was a “life force” for many in the six years she had worked at the networking platform. “‘Movers and Breakers’ is not your average conference. Each year we bring together 140 of our members for three days of extraordinary connection, learning, fun [a lot of fun!] and to hold space for you to be yourself,” the event page states.
High-profile women entrepreneurs including OzHarvest chief executive Ronni Kahn and fashion journalist Laura Brown left comments of support on Isaacs’ Instagram post about the need to lay off staff. Former Business Chicks employees, who spoke to this masthead on condition of anonymity, spoke of a “toxic” workplace culture at Business Chicks in which staff were expected to work long hours for low pay and that senior executives turned a blind eye to the pressure staff were under.