2019 CEO Survey: Andrew Bassat, Seek

Education and employment policy need to continually evolve to support the workforce, says Andrew Bassat.

Seek CEO Andrew Bassat. Picture: Aaron Francis for The Australian

Every year The Australian’s John Durie asks some of the biggest names in Australian business five key questions about what’s coming in the year ahead.

Here, in his own words, is what Andrew Bassat, the chief executive of jobs site Seek, sees ahead in 2020.

You can read more from the CEO Survey.

How is your company affected by low-interest rates and what is needed to boost the economy?

We have a modest amount of debt, so lower interest rates have seen our cost of funding marginally reduce. It will take a bit of time for lower interest rates to flow through to the broader economy and then jobs growth. We need to be a bit patient before this boosts the economy.

What is the impact of government regulations on your company, including those applying to the financial sector?

SEEK is only impacted at the periphery by government regulation. Our ethos has always been to maintain the trust of candidates, hirers and students and contribute positively towards the broader community. Going forward, we need to keep a close eye on regulation surrounding privacy laws, cyber security and application of ethics on artificial intelligence.

What percentage of company revenues are spent on research and development, and how is your company using technology to improve performance?

SEEK invests a material amount of revenue in R&D but also long-term growth investment that is not classified as R&D. Through this investment, we look to apply our technology and capabilities to play a greater role in the human capital market. We invest heavily in Artificial Intelligence which is enabling us to improve the relevancy of job search and job recommendations to candidates. We also invest a lot in online education which is appealing to working adults who want to up-skill/re-skill and cannot typically access traditional forms of education.

What are the three major policy issues facing the country and what should be done about them?

Our education and employment policy need to continually evolve to help support the workforce that faces significant displacement due to automation and tech disruption, now and over the longer-term. We think government-accredited online education and micro-credentials can play a huge role to support Australians to up-skill and re-skill and lead to an overall increase in labour force productivity.

What are the major impediments to long-term growth facing your company, and what can or is being done about them?

We do not see any major external impediments to our long-term growth. Whether we fail or succeed will be determined by us investing, executing well and maintaining our entrepreneurial mindset as we try and solve even bigger and more complex problems in the human capital market.