News broke this morning via press release that Indeed’s parent company, Recruiting Holdings has acquired Canada’s top job board Workopolis.
The release was short and sweet;
TOKYO & TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. announced today that it will acquire the website and assets of Canadian job site, Workopolis.com through one of its group companies. Indeed, the world’s number one job site and a subsidiary of Recruit, will operate Workopolis.com as part of its publisher network. The transaction is expected to close in April.
“Workopolis is a trusted brand and leading Canadian job site for both job seekers and employers,” said Hisayuki Idekoba (known as “Deko”), COO of Recruit and CEO of Indeed. “With millions of loyal users that rely on the site, this acquisition allows us to expand our commitment to providing Canadian job seekers with a superior job search experience.”
Workopolis.com has been a leading career site for job seekers and a leader in HR technology solutions for employers in Canada since 2000.
The news is reminiscent of when they acquired SimplyHired in 2016 in a quick and surprising move. And apparently this was a swift blow to the 160+ employees who work(ed) there.
A reader contacted me with some additional details of what happened at the Workopolis offices today. They said employees were met at the door this morning and told to turn in there phones/computers and immediately sent home. Eight or so workers will remain for about 8 weeks of shutdown activities. Customers of the site are supposed to be refunded as well.
When indeed buys a competing job board they sure don’t waste any time. They take an axe and tell the acquired to take a hike. The owners of Workopolis must have gotten an offer they couldn’t refuse to shut down that quickly with no notice. Guess that’s how they roll in Japan. A clean cut.
In any case its another bold move to ensure a fresh supply of traffic in the great white North. The indeed acquisition train marches on and I fully expect them to make more purchases like this in other countries. A spending pattern has been established.
SIDE NOTE: Workopolis powers other sites including 40-50 association based job boards. Sounds like a golden opportunity for firms like WebScribble and other software vendors to pick up some new clients.
I certainly hope Workopolis’s employees land on their feet – that’s definitely a rough way to learn the news.
For the Canadian associations and niche organizations that used Workopolis to run their job boards, many of whom are obligated to use Canadian service providers where possible, Careerleaf is another friendly neighbourhood job board software provider.