Glassdoor acquires professional social networking app Fishbowl

Workplace insights company Glassdoor has acquired professional social networking app Fishbowl via Glassdoor parent company Recruit Holdings, the companies said on Tuesday evening.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal will help Glassdoor expand its workplace transparency efforts and provide users with more information about the places they want to work, said Christian Sutherland-Wong, CEO of Glassdoor. The companies closed the deal in the first week of September. 

“Fishbowl is going to help Glassdoor power the future of workplace transparency,” said Sutherland-Wong. “What we are concerned with is that when people are looking for advice in their career and where to work, they can get answers.”

Starting on Wednesday, employees and job seekers on Glassdoor will see relevant Fishbowl conversations from people working in related companies and industries, as long as they have a Fishbowl account. Job seekers and employees can click on the conversations and visit Fishbowl, to be known as Fishbowl by Glassdoor, to view company feeds, industry and special interest “bowls” or hubs.

Glassdoor will not sunset the Fishbowl brand. Glassdoor is also planning to add Fishbowl’s more than 800 employees to its team, though will continue to maintain a “work from where you need to” model. Glassdoor declined to disclose joint headcount and revenue. 

At a time labeled as the “Great Resignation,” the integration comes as more than two-thirds (69%) of employees said they wish they were able to learn more about the team they would be working with when deciding to accept a job. Nearly two in three (64%) employees wish they had a way to ask questions of industry peers around the country, according to a Glassdoor survey conducted by the Harris Poll. In addition, nearly half (45%) of employees expect to work hybrid or full-time remotely going forward. 

“The isolation [people have experienced] due to working from home makes professional communities that much more important for the everyday professional,” said Matt Sunbulli, CEO and cofounder at Fishbowl. 

Since its launch in 2016, Fishbowl has grown to include more than 1 million users, with the average user visiting three to four times per week. Prior to making posts or commenting on Fishbowl, users have the option of choosing how they represent themselves for every comment they make, such as by job title, the company they work for, or their full name, title and company. 

Over the last year, Fishbowl has become a sounding board for employee morale and return to the office policies.

Similarly, Glassdoor, a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, has grown to reach 55 million job seekers and employees per month, capturing 95 million reviews and insights for more than 1.7 million companies around the world. 

Glassdoor is part of Recruit Holdings’ HR tech business unit, which includes sister company Indeed. That unit posted $1.7 billion in quarterly revenue, a 149% increase year-over-year in Q2. Recruit Holdings reported quarterly revenue of 6.1 billion over the same period.