Japanese Firm Adds Glassdoor to Job Site Stable

Japanese HR services provider Recruit Holdings is making a major move into the job-hunting business by acquiring Glassdoor for $1.2 billion.

In addition to job listings, Glassdoor provides employees with the opportunity to submit reviews of the companies they work for. It claims to have collected data on more than 770,000 companies in more than 190 countries, including more than 40 million reviews.

When Mill Valley, Calif.-based Glassdoor, which was founded in 2007, last raised funds in 2016, it was valued at around $860 million. Its investors include hedge fund Tiger Global Management, Google Capital, and T. Rowe Price.

“Glassdoor has transformed how people search for jobs and how companies recruit,” CEO and co-founder Robert Holman said in a news release. “Joining with Recruit allows Glassdoor to accelerate its innovation and growth to help job seekers find a job and company they love while also helping employers hire quality candidates.”

Recruit Holdings has been expanding into job-hunting through acquisitions. In April, it snapped up Canadian job site Workopolis and its other sites include Indeed, which it acquired in 2012, and Simply Hired.

Glassdoor will operate within Recruit’s HR technology segment and continue to be led by Holman.

“Glassdoor presents a powerful platform that is changing how people find jobs everywhere,” said Hisayuki Idekoba, Recruit’s chief operating officer and head of its HR technology unit. “Glassdoor’s database of employer information and the job search capabilities of Indeed complement each other well.”

According to Quartz, Glassdoor’s success reflects “the same restless impulse that has led 560 million people to post their profiles on LinkedIn: Even workers with steady, full-time employment want more out of their careers.”

“Together, [Glassdoor and Indeed] give Recruit a potent array of tools for job seekers, and for employers,” Quartz said.

For the year ended March 21, Glassdoor’s net sales rose 36% to $170.8 million while its net loss almost halved to $22.2 million from $41.2 million.