At its Global Gathering in Bali last September, Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson portrayed Seek as a major competitor that his company needs to take market share from, with the goal of becoming the dominant "employment operating system" chosen by employers and job seekers.
It’s perhaps unsurprising then that Seek sought an elegant exit from its increasingly awkward investment in Employment Hero, selling a major stake to private equity giant KKR after putting it out to tender.
As part of his public positioning of Employment Hero as a direct challenger to Seek's recruitment dominance, Thompson has often repeated his ambitions to disrupt what he calls the "hoarding" of talent by traditional job boards.
"Ben's gospel is that Seek's business model is old and on the way out," said a source with knowledge of the situation. "The messaging on Seek is mainly 'yawn — yesterday's way to hire', with some slightly more aggressive messaging to come on that front soon."
