Glassdoor has announced that through its parent company it has completed the acquisition of Fishbowl, a fast-growing social network used by more than one million professionals. Fishbowl hosts conversations where professionals engage in candid conversations about anything career, industry and workplace-related. Financial terms are not being disclosed.
With more than 55 million unique users each month, Glassdoor is on a mission to help people everywhere find a job and company they love by increasing workplace transparency. With Fishbowl’s focus on building meaningful connections and more personal conversations for working professionals, the two platforms are highly complementary and help people get the information they need to make more informed career decisions.
The acquisition of Fishbowl comes at an especially challenging time for workers. A new Glassdoor survey of US employees conducted by The Harris Poll reveals that 48 per cent of employees have felt isolated from coworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 42 per cent of employees have felt their career stall due to the lack of in-person connection. In addition, nearly half (45 per cent) of employees expect to work hybrid or full-time remotely going forward. To help meet the changing needs of today’s working professionals, Fishbowl by Glassdoor will deliver even more workplace transparency, empowering professionals to have candid conversations, connect with one another, build communities and gain helpful insights to advance their careers.
“The world of work is dramatically changing and so are workers’ needs,” said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor CEO. “Glassdoor and Fishbowl provide a look inside the ongoing transformation and what’s crystal clear is that workers need more information, more connection and more community, no matter where they’re located. With this acquisition, we’re giving job seekers and employees an unmatched real-time look into the employee experience across companies and industries.
“More than ever, professionals are seeking communities to have valuable career conversations and get more information from people beyond those they already know,” he added. “No one brings transparency to the workplace better than Glassdoor, and with Fishbowl’s platform for real-time professional conversations the opportunity together is incredibly powerful,” said Matt Sunbulli, Fishbowl Chief Executive Officer. “We’re excited to have Glassdoor’s support to power Fishbowl’s growth.”
Launched in 2016 by co-founders Matt Sunbulli and Loren Appin, Fishbowl has more than 18 million conversations, comments and direct messages in thousands of bowls where professionals can discuss career, industry and workplace-related topics. Before posting or commenting on Fishbowl, people have the option to choose how to represent themselves for every comment they make – by job title only, by the company they work for, or with their full name, title and company.
Starting today, employees and job seekers on Glassdoor will see relevant Fishbowl conversations from people working in related companies and industries. This integration comes as more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of employees wish they were able to learn more about the team they would be working with when deciding to accept a job, and 64 per cent of employees wish they had a way to ask questions of industry peers around the country, according to the Glassdoor survey.
