Seek Accused of Jeopardizing Employment Hero Through Data Access Dispute

A contentious legal battle between online recruitment leader Seek and human resources technology firm Employment Hero has escalated, with Employment Hero alleging that Seek is deliberately undermining its operations. Recent court filings reveal Employment Hero’s claim that Seek’s decision to cut off access to its Application Programming Interface (API) threatens the company’s long-term survival.

seek, through its venture capital fund, holds an investment stake in Employment Hero.The severed API access is a critical technological link that enables companies like Employment hero to directly post job advertisements on Seek’s platform and efficiently manage candidate applications. Without this access, Employment Hero faces significant disruption to its services and potential limitations in reaching job seekers.

The dispute is expected to proceed through the courts, with a resolution not anticipated until late next year, signaling a prolonged period of uncertainty for both companies and the broader HR technology sector. The core of the legal argument centers on whether Seek’s actions constitute anti-competitive behaviour,given its position as a dominant player in the Australian recruitment market and its simultaneous role as an investor in a competing technology firm.