Latest news with #Seek
West Australian
14 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
Cost-of-living pressures sees Aussies take on a second job
The post-Covid boom in the number of Aussies working multiple jobs continues as higher cost of living pressures means more workers are taking on a second gig. The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that in the March quarter there were 963,100 Aussies – or 6.5 per cent of the workforce – who had more than one job. While this is actually down from the previous quarter where 999,500 Australians held multiple jobs, it is still a sharp uptick in workers looking to diversify their incomes compared with the years prior to Covid, where around 5 to 6 per cent of Aussies took on a second gig. Seek senior economist Blair Chapman said the spike in cost-of-living pressures from inflation meant more Australians needed to take on extra work. 'We've really seen cost-of-living, especially for employee households, increase quite a lot over the last couple of years,' he said. 'If you've got a mortgage, those repayments have increased quite a bit over the last couple of years so I suspect people have sought a second job just to reach the higher cost of living recently.' Australians are holding onto their second job despite the overall unemployment rate holding firm in recent months, around the 4.1 per cent mark. The main driving force behind this trend is underemployment meaning workers are getting fewer hours from their primary employer than they'd like. 'We are seeing more people being employed in industries where we tend to see a lot of multiple job holdings,' Mr Chapman said. 'For example, we've seen healthcare and social assistance grow and that is one of the industries where multiple job holdings are most common. 'That comes down to the nature of the work, where you have shift work and one business may not be able to provide all the hours an employee wants so the individual has to work across multiple sites to get the hours they are desiring.' Many of these multiple job holders are Australians aged between 20-24, with women more likely to hold a second role over males. In contrast older Australians aged between 60 to 64 are the least likely to hold a second role. 'When we look at a lot of the multiple job holders, they tend to be younger. Maybe it is a university aged person who can't work full-time but can work nights and weekends,' Mr Chapman said. 'While maybe it is not the same job but for them it is probably good they can work multiple jobs with flexible hours.'
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reason Aussies are working multiple jobs
The post-Covid boom in the number of Aussies working multiple jobs continues as higher cost of living pressures means more workers are taking on a second gig. The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that in the March quarter there were 963,100 Aussies – or 6.5 per cent of the workforce – who had more than one job. While this is actually down from the previous quarter where 999,500 Australians held multiple jobs, it is still a sharp uptick in workers looking to diversify their incomes compared with the years prior to Covid, where around 5 to 6 per cent of Aussies took on a second gig. Seek senior economist Blair Chapman said the spike in cost-of-living pressures from inflation meant more Australians needed to take on extra work. 'We've really seen cost-of-living, especially for employee households, increase quite a lot over the last couple of years,' he said. 'If you've got a mortgage, those repayments have increased quite a bit over the last couple of years so I suspect people have sought a second job just to reach the higher cost of living recently.' Australians are holding onto their second job despite the overall unemployment rate holding firm in recent months, around the 4.1 per cent mark. The main driving force behind this trend is underemployment meaning workers are getting fewer hours from their primary employer than they'd like. 'We are seeing more people being employed in industries where we tend to see a lot of multiple job holdings,' Mr Chapman said. 'For example, we've seen healthcare and social assistance grow and that is one of the industries where multiple job holdings are most common. 'That comes down to the nature of the work, where you have shift work and one business may not be able to provide all the hours an employee wants so the individual has to work across multiple sites to get the hours they are desiring.' Many of these multiple job holders are Australians aged between 20-24, with women more likely to hold a second role over males. In contrast older Australians aged between 60 to 64 are the least likely to hold a second role. 'When we look at a lot of the multiple job holders, they tend to be younger. Maybe it is a university aged person who can't work full-time but can work nights and weekends,' Mr Chapman said. 'While maybe it is not the same job but for them it is probably good they can work multiple jobs with flexible hours.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IBM acquires data analysis startup Seek AI, opens AI accelerator in NYC
IBM on Monday said that it has acquired Seek AI, an AI platform that allows users to ask questions about enterprise data using natural language, for an undisclosed sum. Seek CEO and founder Sarah Nagy said that the startup's technology will be a key part of Watsonx AI Labs, IBM's new NYC-based AI accelerator, which IBM also announced today. "[W]e'll scale our platform, deploy mission-critical solutions for IBM clients, empower the next generation of AI developers, and grow our team significantly," wrote Nagy in a LinkedIn post. IBM's acquisition of Seek comes as the former looks to grow its investments in AI, particularly AI for the enterprise. It's a strategy that's worked well for IBM so far. The tech giant's Q1 earnings beat estimates, driven by software growth and strong AI demand. NYC-based Seek, which Nagy founded in 2021, offers an array of tools designed to help businesses better leverage their data. The company's software allows users to interact with data using a chatbot-like interface, automatically translating natural language questions into database queries and performing high-level data analysis and summarization. Prior to its exit, Seek AI managed to raise around $10 million from investors including Battery Ventures, Conviction Partners, and NJP Ventures. The startup will move its headquarters to One Madison, the location of Watsonx AI Labs and IBM's new Manhattan offices, once the deal closes. "[W]atsonx AI Labs is where the best AI developers gain access to world-class engineers and resources and build new businesses and applications," IBM GM of Data and AI Ritika Gunnar said in a statement. "By anchoring this mission in New York City, we are investing in a diverse, world‑class talent pool and a vibrant community whose innovations have long shaped the tech landscape." In a press release, IBM said that Watsonx AI Labs will bring together IBM researchers and engineers in a "collaborative hub" to build AI solutions for companies. Watsonx AI Labs will also seek collaborations with local colleges and research institutions. Startups that successfully launch products at the accelerator will have access to IBM resources as well as potential investment from the company's corporate VC wing, IBM Ventures, and its $500 million enterprise AI fund. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech Tactics: Vicci Eyewear Looks to Seek AI for Online Growth and a ‘Data-Driven Culture'
Tech Tactics is Sourcing Journal's series with brands and technology companies to discuss their latest innovations. Vicci Eyewear is on a mission to boost its e-commerce business with help from a new artificial intelligence (AI) partner. More from Sourcing Journal Upstream Focus: Do-Gree Fashions Ltd.'s Matthew Tock on Tariffs, Taking Risks and Transparency Chain Reaction: NuVizz CEO Guru Rao on Surviving Disruption with Smarter Delivery Tech Walmart US Nearly Doubled Deliveries Made in Three Hours or Less Last week, the Miami-based prescription eyewear brand announced a partnership with Seek AI, a multi-agent system designed to deliver accurate, understandable and secure autonomous analytics for both data teams and non-technical users. By leveraging Seek AI's agentic tools—an advanced form of AI that operates autonomously to make decisions and take action toward specific goals—Vicci Eyewear plans to enhance its data strategy and accelerate online growth. 'Seek gave me data I could confidently put in front of investors. Instead of rough estimates, I had real metrics—average order value, return rates [and] conversion data—all backed by our own sources,' said Steven Geduld, CEO at Vicci Eyewear. 'That level of detail saved me time and added credibility. I'm excited to have Seek help Vicci drive a data-driven culture.' To achieve these results, Vicci Eyewear is leveraging Seek's suite of solutions. This includes the Dialogue Agent, which allows both data teams and non-technical users to interact with structured data through natural language queries, and the Explanation Agent, which analyzes query results and provides clear, summarized insights. By combining Seek's managed services, brands like Vicci Eyewear can unlock more advanced reasoning and problem-solving capabilities tailored to their business goals, according to the New York-based company. 'We are excited to partner with Vicci Eyewear and implement our Seek AI agentic data platform to deliver faster speed to meaningful insights,' said Sarah Nagy, CEO at Seek AI. 'In today's world, the retailer with the best data-driven edge will be best equipped to navigate toward better business outcomes, and our Seek data agents are ready to meet that need.' While this marks the first collaboration between Vicci Eyewear and Seek AI, the software company has already helped several other retailers drive measurable improvements since its founding in 2021. One recent example is Welles, a sustainable clothing brand that used Seek AI's tools to transform its e-commerce operations. Within one month, Welles saved 30 minutes per day on data-related tasks, re-engaged over 4,000 dormant customers and reduced product returns by 50 percent. 'Seek AI has been transformative for our operations,' said Rachel Rothenberg-Saenz, co-founder and CEO of Welles. 'We saw measurable results almost immediately—recovering potential sales, reducing returns and gaining actionable insights that validate our marketing and operational decisions. It's the clarity and efficiency we needed to scale smarter.'
Business Wire
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Seek AI Selected by Storelli to Strengthen Data-Driven Growth & Marketing Strategies
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Seek AI, the trusted AI agent platform for data, today announced that online retail brand Storelli has selected the Seek platform to strengthen its data-driven growth efforts and marketing strategies. 'Seek saves us hours of manual work by instantly surfacing the right product bundles based on our sales data. It gets us 80% of the way there and backs up our instincts with data,' said Tyler Stelter, COO at Storelli. Share Storelli is a growing online retailer that provides high performance soccer gear for athletes. Delivered via managed services, the Seek agentic AI platform that Storelli is implementing serves to streamline the store's product bundling and kit creation for their new website, generate data-driven product recommendations, and analyze historical sales to inform marketing strategies. 'Seek saves us hours of manual work by instantly surfacing the right product bundles based on our sales data. It gets us 80% of the way there and backs up our instincts with data,' said Tyler Stelter, COO at Storelli. 'It's becoming a core part of our workflow. We're excited to explore more use cases, especially as we connect more data sources.' 'Our team at Seek AI is proud to partner with Storelli. Together, we are bringing forward a more efficient and effective data analytics culture in the retail sector using the power of agentic AI for data,' said Sarah Nagy, CEO at Seek AI. What is Seek AI? Seek AI is an agentic AI-powered data platform for e-commerce, Shopify, CPG enterprise, and financial services organizations that enables customers better access to their data. Customers across SMB, midmarket and Fortune 500 enterprises rely on Seek to improve their data analytics with a powerful natural language interface for data to guide sales, marketing, promotional campaigns, product inventory, and more. Seek is a smart and easy way to get critical insights to inform better business outcomes, like a ChatGPT for e-commerce and CPG data. Contact Seek for a product demo or more information. ABOUT STORELLI Storelli was founded in 2010 in New York City by an Italian soccer player, and a PhD in biophysics and an action sports industrial designer. We are soccer-obsessed creatives and engineers committed to designing performance gear to protect you from injuries and put you in the zone on the field. From our design efforts to every clinical study we sponsor, our goal is to help you love every second of the beautiful game as much as we do. ABOUT SEEK AI Seek AI is on a mission to build AI that can reason over data. What this means for businesses is democratizing data access and breaking through the information barriers that impede business efficiency. Leveraging proprietary AI agents and code generation, the simple, accurate and secure platform allows users across organizations to easily request and instantly access vital data. Seek AI aims to eliminate the daily obstacles facing knowledge workers while freeing up data teams by automating routine coding tasks-ultimately optimizing the utilization of organizational data at scale. Learn more at Follow us on Twitter @ai_seek and LinkedIn.
