For the past few years, it has been restyling itself as a unified communication platform – it wants to become the “one platform to connect”.
Another step on this journey is the acquisition of employee experience (EX) platform Workvivo. Irish-headquartered Workvivo helps employees stay connected with each other (and their companies) in one centralized hub.
Other recent acquisitions for Zoom include Solvvy, Liminal and kites.
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed; the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year.
Once the acquisition has closed, Workvivo’s technology will be incorporated into Zoom’s platform. Workvivo’s founders and whole team will remain instrumental in helping Zoom build an innovative EX strategy and the digital future of work.
A bright future for Zoom and EX
Talking about the acquisition, Zoom’s CFO Kelly Steckelberg commented: “We are excited to welcome the Workvivo team to Zoom.
“The power of Workvivo employee experience platform, with its robust communications and engagement offering combined with Zoom’s all-in-one collaboration platform, allows organizations to fully unlock the potential of their employees and evolve their company culture.
“Workvivo has set the standard for employee communications, helping businesses reach and engage millions of employees worldwide. Workvivo prioritizes ease-of-use and simplicity of design, offering the best user experience which is a perfect match to Zoom’s DNA.”
John Goulding, CEO and co-founder of Workvivo, added: “Zoom’s rapid pace of innovation and the persistent dedication to building products with a human-first mindset is why we are most excited about joining the team”.
“Our platform replaces outdated, clunky, internal communications tools with a vibrant, familiar social experience, and has a proven history of unparalleled levels of adoption.
“With Zoom, we can build great things together, make teamwork more meaningful, and extend collaboration beyond knowledge workers, allowing us to reach employees who have historically felt disconnected from the company.”
Of course, this Workvivo deal comes hot on the heels of Zoom making the decision to lay off 15% of its workers globally. To take personal responsibility for these job cuts, CEO Eric Yuan moved to reduce his own pay by 98% – he will also cut the pay of the rest of the executive team by 20%.
In a letter to employees, Yuan wrote: “As the world transitions to life post-pandemic, we are seeing that people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom.
“But the uncertainty of the global economy, and its effect on our customers, means we need to take a hard – yet important – look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.”
Clearly focusing on connection, and particularly in the workplace, is going to be key in Zoom’s future. Stay tuned.
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