The 2+U project in downtown Seattle under construction. (GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)

Indeed, the online job search engine, has leased a huge new office space in a flashy new tower under construction in downtown Seattle, continuing its rapid growth in the city.

Raj Mukherjee, senior vice president of product at Indeed. (Indeed Photo)

The company, headquartered in Austin, scooped up the top 10 floors of 2+U, a 38-story, 686,000-square-foot tower being built and developed by Skanska in Seattle. The building is known locally for the distinctive series of pillars that lift the structure 85 feet off the ground. Indeed’s office will be roughly 200,000 square feet, with room for 1,000 additional employees, making it one of the bigger Seattle real estate deals of 2018.

The new office more than doubles Indeed’s presence in Seattle, said Raj Mukherjee, senior vice president of product, in an interview with GeekWire. Underscoring the scale of Indeed’s growth in Seattle, the company foresees holding on to its two current locations, at least in the short term, even after the new offices are ready, starting in 2020.

Indeed has quietly been one of the fastest growing tech companies in the Seattle region. It went from 80 Seattle employees in 2016 to 170 a year ago, to more than 400 today. Indeed’s growth is the latest example of an out-of-town company taking a huge chunk of Seattle real estate to attract and retain top-tier tech talent, a trail blazed by giants like Google and Facebook.

A rendering of the 2+U project. (Skanska Image)

Seattle is the company’s largest engineering hub outside of its headquarters. The self-proclaimed number one job site has 7,400 employees spread across 27 offices in 14 countries. Indeed is owned by Japan-based Recruit Holdings, which acquired the job site in 2012.

The Seattle office specializes in product management, marketing, and engineering. Mukherjee, who’s worked at GoDaddy, Google and Microsoft, leads the office with Senior Vice president of Engineering Doug Gray, a veteran of Austin company Trilogy.

The Seattle teams own a variety of projects, including Indeed Resume — the feature that allows job seekers to upload resumes to the search engine. Mukherjee says more than 5 million job seekers create or update online profiles each month through the Resume service.

“We believe the job application and hiring process shouldn’t be cumbersome, and are always identifying ways to make it easier and faster to find the right job, and to hire great talent,” Mukherjee said.

Indeed certainly knows a thing or two about hiring and the battle for talent going on in the Seattle tech scene. A huge office in a standout downtown tower is a great resume piece for top talent to think about when considering where to go. But other factors weigh heavily on prospective employees’ minds, beyond fancy office space or high pay.

An Indeed University session at the company’s Seattle office. (Indeed Photo)

“Though we still see that salary is a key factor candidates consider when evaluating an offer, we also see candidates caring more about job location, work flexibility, a good work environment, and meaningful work,” Mukherjee said.

One example of those extra mile perks is called Indeed University. The program gives new hires the opportunity to “build and launch startups within Indeed in their first days at the company,” Mukherjee said.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.