A small IT business in rural Western Australia has gained a lot of attention in recent days after posting a job advertisement with a very unusual requirement.
Wallis Computer Solutions, a small IT support business in Dalwallinu, 250km from Perth, recently posted an ad searching for a “non-woke” MSP L2+ Technician to join the team.
“We are looking for an MSP technician who is now looking for a position in a company who is not woke and values diversity of thought,” the advertisement read.
The term “woke” has become popularised in recent years and usually refers to being socially aware, particularly around political and social justice issues.
There are those who also use it in a negative sense to describe ideologies – often progressive, left leaning values – that they don’t agree with.
Under the “core position details” part of the job description, potential applicants were informed there would be “no requirements for pronouns”.
“We know what a woman is,” the ad read.
Anyone willing to take this job would also “never be forced to get any medical treatment”.
This part of the job description is expanded on further down the page, with Wallis Computer Solutions ensuring applicants will never be required to disclose their medical vaccination history in order to gain employment.
“You are not required to have COVID vaccine or any other vaccine to work,,” the ad said.
With a salary range of $65,000 to $90,000 a year plus Super and bonuses, the “right applicant” would be able to work completely from home.
However, if a person was willing to move to Dalwallinu, a town with a population of slightly more than 1300, then it would “definitely help in your negotiations”.
The advertisement also lists the company’s “core values” including that “near enough is not good enough” and the classic business saying “go hard or go home”.
This isn’t the only out of the ordinary advertisement that has been posted by Wallis Computer Solutions.
Last year, managing director Nathanael Wallis shared a job vacancy to LinkedIn which was titled: “Unvaxxed Remote MSP Technician job”.
Mr Wallis told news.com.au that there had been more activity on his most recent advertisement than he expected.
He said that because vaccination has become a “contentious” topic in the past several years, he deemed it “essential to clarify our organisation’s stance on this issue”.
“Prior to the advent of the Covid-19 vaccine, I expressed to our team my conviction that medical decisions should remain a personal choice,” he said.
“I firmly stand by this position. It has always been, and will continue to be, the prerogative of our staff members to decide whether or not they wish to receive vaccinations (or any medical treatment).
“We respect their personal autonomy and do not seek to influence these decisions.”
In the five days since being posted, the most recent ad has gained a massive amount of attention online after being shared to the AusFinance Reddit group.
Social media users were quick to share their thoughts on the strange job requirements.
“Terribly unprofessional and a red flag for anyone with a brain. Who cares on someone’s political convictions. Just do your job and act professional,” one person said.
Another questioned how the company could say they valued “diversity of thought” but were willing to exclude all “woke” people.
One person turned the tables back on the company, saying they “sound like a bunch of snowflakes”.
“Talk about being easily offended,” they wrote.
However, there were some who believed it was a “good thing” the company was specifically stating the type of person they want to hire so people don’t waste their time.
“Regardless of your political/religious/social views or beliefs, I think it’s a good thing when people openly tell you who they are and what they’re like so you know what you’re getting beforehand,” they said.
“This job ad may filter applicants for the employer, but it also filters this employer for many applicants.”
This isn’t the first Aussie business to cop backlash from a job listing, with a Gold Coast cafe landing in hot water earlier this year after looking for a “female barista”.
The ad by Jekyll and Hyde Coffee Lab apologised and changed the description so it was calling for “all genders” to apply for a vacant barista role at the Mudgeeraba cafe.
“Need a barista. All genders invited to apply,” the new posting read.
“Apologies previous ad was worded incorrectly. Was never meant to offend.”
Although the previous ad calling for a “female” worker was taken down, an earlier post from the cafe’s owner remained — in it she described her ideal applicant as someone who “looks half way decent”, has “morals” and isn’t “righteous”.
Georgina Rebecca Clothier posted to her personal account before re-sharing to the cafe’s account in January that she was looking for someone who “wants to stick around, does not intend to go to uni, (and) can commit to turning up (five) days a week” for work at her cafe.
“(Someone who) lives a fairly normal life with no dramas on the daily, can smile, be genuine, have a funny bone in their body, looks half way decent, drives a car, has some morals, is a team player, doesn’t want to sit on their phone every 10 minutes,” she continued.
“And most importantly can make coffee.”