oDesk Hires Internet Business Specialist Thomas Layton to Support its Growth

oDesk, a fast growing global marketplace that helps employers hire, manage, and pay remote freelancers or teams, announced an important addition to its top management.

In a press release, oDesk announced the appointment of Thomas Layton as the company’s new Executive Chairman. The former CEO of OpenTable and Metaweb, Layton will work closely with CEO Gary Swart to lead the company’s operations.

This year, Silicon Valley Business Journal named oDesk as the seventh fastest-growing company in the Silicon Valley. The company has been placed114th in Deloitte’s (News - Alert) list of fastest-growing companies in North America. oDesk also was ranked on the Inc. 500 for the third year in a row.

According to a press release, last month, contractors earned a record $23.5 million through oDesk, while businesses posted more than 100,000 jobs to the service. The company claimed that since 2007, it has doubled in size. The combination of Swart, Layton and the rest of the oDesk team is expected to further strengthen the company’s position in the online market place.

“We are extraordinarily fortunate to welcome Thomas to our leadership team. He is a three-time winner, having led a series of successful Internet companies: CitySearch, OpenTable and Metaweb. oDesk has doubled in size each year for the past four years. We’re pleased to go into 2012 with a strengthened team and Thomas’ deep and relevant expertise in disruptive, high-growth businesses like ours,” Swart commented in a statement.

Prior to joining oDesk, Layton served as CEO of Metaweb Technologies. The company has been acquired by Google (News - Alert) in 2010. He was with OpenTable for six years. As CEO of this company, Layton expanded the service’s restaurant partners from 500 to more than 7,000 and grew online reservations to more than two million per month.

Previously Layton also co-founded a company, called CitySearch, Inc. The company is currently a subsidiary of USA Networks. Layton remains on the board of directors of OpenTable, ancestry.com and three other companies.

An MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a BS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Layton said that he had no plans to assume another operating role, but hugely impressed by the oDesk’s performance, Layton changed his mind to join the company.

“I had no plans to take another operating role, but oDesk pulled me in like a magnet. oDesk’s vision for the future of work, combined with its explosive growth and exceptional management team lay the foundation for a company that will truly change the world. I’m excited to work with Gary and his team to delight customers on the world’s most thriving online workplace,” Layton said in a statement.

Last month oDesk announced that it will provide online training resources to Connect to Compete, a non-profit announced by FCC (News - Alert) Chairman Julius Genachowski, to help educate people in disadvantaged areas in the use of computers and the Internet.