I guess a major pivot wasn’t enough for Peter Harrison to keep his job.
Announced today, Snag — the artist formerly known as Snagajob — has a new CEO. Board member and former Upwork CEO Fabio Rosati is taking over as chairman and CEO. Rosati was CEO of Elance, which later became Upwork, from 2001 to 2015. Under him, Upwork became the world’s largest gig economy platform for skilled work with 14 million users in 180 countries and more than $1 billion in annual billings.
“Hourly workers constitute nearly 60 percent of the U.S. workforce, and Snag’s mission of helping people get jobs and shifts at more than 300,000 employer locations in the U.S. and Canada is a source of inspiration and pride for all of us,” Rosati said. “Since Snag’s founding, we remain focused on providing the fastest and most trusted way to match job seekers with work, and employers with the team members they need.”
Harrison served as CEO since 2013. Before that, he had a stint at GlobalLogic that lasted just over 10 years. There was recent evidence that the company was making big moves as a competitor to companies like Shiftgig and Pared, launching an “Uber-for-hourly-workers” platform in April. It also recently launched in Canada.
It wasn’t enough to save his job.
Rumors that Harrison was out started in June. They followed layoffs and a west coast office closure in May. Sources who talked to me on the condition of anonymity said sales were growing at 30 percent year over year until Harrison came in, then sales growth fell to 4 percent year-over-year after he took over. Glassdoor reviews are also not very flattering. Harrison has an abysmal 41 percent approval rating, and most of the negative reviews focus on a lack of leadership.
Said one Glassdoor reviewer, “Still a weird mix of products and offerings that sound like they should all work together to add value but they don’t. Unsure how the company plans to scale new offering. Feels like we are being set up for a fire sale. We have lost our culture. It’s gone. Feels like a different company now. The passion that people once has is now replaced with ‘well … I guess I need a job’ or some people that are ‘on edge’ all day.”
The company has raised $141 million in capital over the years, according to Crunchbase, including a $100 million influx in 2016 through which it gave up a controlling stake to outside investment firms. An increasingly competitive landscape in the SMB space, that now includes LinkedIn, makes Snag’s uphill climb that much tougher. Rosati has a tough job ahead of him. No word on whether or not the company continue in the direction Harrison has laid out for the company back in April.
“I am truly proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past five years at Snag, and I could not be more confident in this team’s ability to drive the business going forward,” Harrison said. “Fabio has been a member of the Snag board since 2017, and has a strong understanding of our company and our culture. I pass the baton to him with complete confidence in his leadership and in the company’s future.”
Snagajob was founded in Richmond, Virginia, in 2000 and also has a presence in Charleston, South Carolina, and Northern Virginia, where it now keeps its corporate office.