Indeed

Who owns Indeed?
Indeed is a wholly owned subsidiary of Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., a publicly traded Japanese human resources technology company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticker symbol 6098. Recruit Holdings acquired Indeed in October 2012 for approximately $1 billion and holds 100 percent ownership. Recruit Holdings is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Is Indeed publicly traded?
Indeed itself is not publicly traded as a separate entity. Its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticker symbol 6098. Investors can own shares in Recruit Holdings, which includes Indeed's performance within its HR Technology segment.

Who is the CEO of Indeed?
Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba, CEO of Recruit Holdings, assumed direct leadership of Indeed in June 2025 after Chris Hyams stepped down as Indeed CEO. Idekoba previously served as Indeed's CEO and president and led Recruit Holdings' acquisition of Indeed in 2012.

Who founded Indeed?
Indeed was founded in 2004 by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, technology entrepreneurs with previous experience in online recruitment. The company was initially established in Stamford, Connecticut, before moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas in 2010.

What is Indeed's revenue?
Indeed's revenue is not reported separately. It is included within Recruit Holdings' HR Technology segment, which also includes Glassdoor. For FY2025 (ended March 31, 2026), the HR Technology segment reported revenue of JPY 1,458.4 billion, approximately $9.67 billion USD, up 6.3 percent year over year. For FY2024, the segment reported revenue of JPY 1,372.2 billion, approximately $7.38 billion USD.

How many people does Indeed employ?
The HR Technology segment of Recruit Holdings, which includes Indeed and Glassdoor, employed approximately 11,860 people as of March 31, 2025. In July 2025, 1,300 employees were laid off, reducing the segment workforce by approximately 6 percent. Indeed has conducted three rounds of layoffs since 2023, reducing its workforce by approximately 29 percent cumulatively.

What is Indeed's market position?
Indeed is the world's largest and most-used job search website, with over 66 million user profiles across more than 60 countries. The platform competes with LinkedIn (Microsoft), ZipRecruiter, and other job boards. In June 2025, competitor CareerBuilder + Monster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

What happened with Glassdoor?
In July 2025, Recruit Holdings announced the integration of Glassdoor's operations into Indeed as part of a broader restructuring. Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong departed on October 1, 2025. The restructuring included 1,300 layoffs across both companies. Glassdoor was acquired by Indeed in 2018 and had operated as a separate brand within Recruit Holdings' HR Technology segment.

Indeed was founded in 2004 by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, both experienced technology entrepreneurs with backgrounds in online recruitment. The company was established in Stamford, Connecticut, before moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas in 2010.

The founders' vision was to create a comprehensive job search engine that aggregated listings from multiple sources. Indeed launched with a simple, Google-like interface that focused on search functionality rather than becoming another job board. Between 2005 and 2010, Indeed grew rapidly by partnering with major companies and job boards to aggregate their listings, introducing features like salary information, company reviews, and job search analytics.

In October 2012, Recruit Holdings acquired Indeed for approximately $1 billion, one of the largest acquisitions in the HR technology sector at that time. Under Recruit's ownership, Indeed expanded globally and acquired Glassdoor in 2018, which was integrated into Indeed's platform.

In 2023, Indeed cut 15 percent of its workforce, the first major layoff under Recruit Holdings ownership, attributed to a cooling labor market and declining job postings. In May 2024, Indeed cut approximately 1,000 employees, or roughly 8 percent of its workforce, the second layoff in two years. Then-CEO Chris Hyams stated the company maintained stable profitability amid declining job postings but needed to reignite growth.

In June 2025, Chris Hyams stepped down as Indeed CEO. Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba, CEO of Recruit Holdings who previously served as Indeed's CEO and president and led the 2012 acquisition, assumed direct leadership of Indeed. Idekoba emphasized AI as a strategic priority, stating that hiring is "still too slow and too hard" and that the company would use AI to make it "simpler and more personal."

In July 2025, Recruit Holdings announced 1,300 layoffs across Indeed and Glassdoor, representing approximately 6 percent of the HR Technology segment workforce. The cuts were mostly in the United States and spanned research and development, growth, and people and sustainability teams. As part of the restructuring, Glassdoor's operations were integrated into Indeed, and Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong departed on October 1, 2025. LaFawn Davis, chief people and sustainability officer at Indeed, also left the company.

Indeed does not hold B Corp certification or comparable third-party sustainability credentials. The company's sustainability approach has focused on workplace diversity, career development, and economic opportunity.

In July 2025, as part of the restructuring, the people and sustainability teams at Indeed were significantly affected by layoffs. LaFawn Davis, chief people and sustainability officer at Indeed, left the company as part of the reorganization. The reduction of sustainability teams raised questions about the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability initiatives.

Indeed's social impact is primarily through its core business of connecting job seekers with employment opportunities. The platform states that AI helps people find a job every 2.2 seconds. The company has published research on labor market trends and provides free job posting capabilities to support small businesses and non-profit organizations.

However, Indeed's own workforce has been reduced by approximately 29 percent cumulatively across three rounds of layoffs in 2023 (15 percent), 2024 (8 percent), and 2025 (6 percent of HR Technology segment), raising questions about the alignment between the company's mission of helping people get jobs and its treatment of its own employees.

Indeed has not received widely documented third-party awards or recognition. The company's notable achievements include:

• World's largest job search website by user base
• Over 66 million user profiles
• Operations in more than 60 countries
• AI helping people find a job every 2.2 seconds
• Part of Recruit Holdings, one of the world's largest HR technology companies

Indeed has faced several controversies and challenges:

Repeated Layoffs
Indeed conducted three rounds of significant layoffs within three years:

• 2023: 15 percent of workforce cut, attributed to cooling labor market
• May 2024: Approximately 1,000 employees cut (8 percent), second layoff in two years, with then-CEO Chris Hyams citing need to "reignite growth"
• July 2025: 1,300 employees cut across Indeed and Glassdoor (6 percent of HR Technology segment), attributed to AI integration and operational simplification

The cumulative workforce reduction of approximately 29 percent over three years has drawn criticism from employees and industry observers, particularly given Indeed's mission of helping people get jobs. The 2025 layoffs specifically targeted research and development, growth, and people and sustainability teams.

AI-Driven Job Displacement Concerns
The 2025 layoffs were explicitly linked to AI integration, with Recruit Holdings CEO Hisayuki Idekoba stating that "AI is changing the world, and we must adapt." This framing raised concerns about AI-driven job displacement, particularly at a company whose core mission is employment. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, at least 20,000 job cuts in the first half of 2025 were attributed to technology-related factors such as automation.

Glassdoor Integration and Leadership Departures
The integration of Glassdoor into Indeed and the departure of Glassdoor CEO Christian Sutherland-Wong raised concerns about the future of Glassdoor's independent brand identity and its company review platform. Glassdoor's anonymous company reviews have been a valuable resource for job seekers, and the consolidation under Indeed could potentially affect the independence and credibility of those reviews.

Pay-to-Play Model Criticism
Indeed's pay-per-click and sponsored listing model has been criticized for potentially disadvantaging smaller employers who cannot afford to sponsor job postings. Critics argue that the model prioritizes employer payment over job seeker relevance, potentially showing less relevant but sponsored positions above more relevant organic listings.

Market Competition and Labor Market Sensitivity
Indeed's revenue is sensitive to broader labor market conditions. The decline in job postings in 2023 and 2024 led to revenue pressure and workforce reductions. The bankruptcy filing of competitor CareerBuilder + Monster in June 2025 highlighted the challenges facing the online recruitment industry amid macroeconomic uncertainty.

Data Privacy
Indeed collects significant amounts of personal data from job seekers, including resumes, employment history, salary expectations, and search behavior. The company's data privacy practices are subject to GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, and other data protection regulations across the more than 60 countries where it operates.