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Tag: Upwork

  • Upwork: Businesses Will Stick With Remote Work After Pandemic

    Upwork: Businesses Will Stick With Remote Work After Pandemic

    Upwork has released its Economist Report: One Year Remote, finding many companies will continue with remote work thanks to its benefits.

    The pandemic is attributed with forcing a decade of digital transformation in a year’s time. Companies large and small had to adapt quickly, and help employees work remotely. Many companies have embraced the change, committing to a remote or hybrid workforce moving forward.

    According to Upwork’s Dr. Adam Ozimek, the transition to remote work may be more successful than many companies and executives realize. One of the biggest benefits has been an increase in productivity.

    When workers are asked if productivity has gone up from working remotely, 61% say yes, and only 12.7% say no. While workers may be viewing their productivity in a self-serving light, Upwork’s survey of 1,000 hiring managers showed a positive view as well: 32.2% of hiring managers felt that overall productivity had gone up as of late April compared to the 22.5% that felt it had decreased.

    Another benefit has been the ability to relocate to less expensive areas. Upwork estimates some 23 million people planned to relocate, thanks to the freedom remote work offers.

    More companies are also open to the possibility of hybrid teams, made up of a combination of full-time and independent workers. The pandemic has helped many hiring managers become more comfortable with hiring independent freelancers, breaking down previous misconceptions and opening the door to a wider talent pool.

    Not surprisingly, reduced cost was another big factor. Upwork estimates that employees who commuted to work by car saved roughly $4,350 this past year. On average employees have been saved approximately nine days of commuting in just a year’s time.

    One of the most interesting findings of Upwork’s report is a greater understanding of perceived pain points and their true cause. In other words, some of the issues blamed on remote work are really a result of the pandemic, not remote work.

    Parents, for example, have likely had to balance work with interruptions from children. This is not a product of remote work, but rather a result of many schools having been closed due to COVID. In a post-pandemic situation, kids will be at school, and remote work will mean fewer interruptions.

    Upwork’s full report is well-worth a read and demonstrates the permanent effect this past year has had in transforming the workplace.

  • Twitter Works to Make Advertisers Feel Safe

    Twitter Works to Make Advertisers Feel Safe

    Twitter is taking steps to ensure advertisers feel safe on its platform, a vital step for the company’s long-term growth.

    One of the biggest challenges social media companies face is balancing individuals’ right to express themselves with companies’ efforts to protect their brand. Facebook ran afoul of advertisers in June when the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found many ads from high-profile companies placed alongside content that would be deemed racist and offensive. As a result, Coca-Cola, The Hershey Company, Levi Strauss & Co, Verizon, Mozilla, Upwork, REI, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The North Face and Eddie Bauer were just a few of the companies that pulled their advertising from the platform.

    Twitter is working to prevent that kind of scenario, with a new focus on brand safety, according to Business Insider.

    “We want every brand to feel confident advertising on Twitter,” said Sarah Personette, Twitter VP of global client solutions, in an interview. “Brand safety is a critical component to that.”

    The company has committed to audits by the Media Rating Council. Certification by the MRC is considered the gold standard, providing some assurance the platform’s systems are operating without bias. Twitter is also planning to announce third-party partnerships in the coming weeks, aimed at promoting brand safety.

    At a time when Twitter is working to stay relevant amid the onslaught of newer platforms, and is trying to walk the moderation tightrope, this is a critical step for the company’s success.

  • Upwork: Up to 23 Million Americans Relocating Thanks to Remote Work

    Upwork: Up to 23 Million Americans Relocating Thanks to Remote Work

    Upwork has released its “Remote Workers on the Move” report, highlighting the impact the pandemic is having on the American workforce.

    As the pandemic swept the globe, companies the world over sent their employees home to work remotely. Just as the initial restrictions started to ease, the pandemic picked up its pace, forcing companies to extend their work-from-home policies. In some cases, companies such as Dropbox, Reddit, Twitter and Microsoft have made remote work a permanent part of their culture.

    The shift to remote work is having a profound impact on the American workforce, according to Upwork. In particular, remote work could be leading to a sizable migration.

    Anywhere from 14 to 23 million Americans are planning to move as a result of remote work. Combined with those who are moving regardless of remote work, near-term migration rates may be three to four times what they normally are.

    Large cities are the biggest losers in this scenario, with 20.6% of those planning to move leaving a big city. Those planning to move are not just moving further into the suburbs. Some 54.7% of those migrating are planning on moving at least two hours away, farther than typical commuting distance.

    Upwork calls the transition to remote work “the biggest, fastest transformation of the labor market since the World World II mobilization.” The report makes it clear that companies must adapt to what has become a new normal, providing employees with remote work options. In particular, Upwork makes the case that companies are better off allowing full remote work rather than partial options.

    In addition to the impacts to cities, the results of the survey also present an important lesson for businesses on the future of remote work. In order to capture and provide professionals with the full benefits of remote work, businesses must allow full-time remote work. While a partial-remote model, a policy that requires a blend of both remote work and in office work, may have some appeal as a “best of both” choice, it also means forgoing many benefits. A professional cannot move hours and even states away if they still have to go into the office two days a week. Our survey shows that for 41% of people moving out of the area because of remote work, they are going 4 or hours farther away. This is not a weekly commute distance, and is not something workers can do easily with a partial-remote model.

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    Likewise, with a partial-remote model businesses forgo one of the biggest benefits of a remote workforce; the ability to hire from a larger talent pool. Businesses cannot hire workers wherever they are if weekly office visits are still required.

  • High-Profile Companies Join Facebook Advertising Boycott

    High-Profile Companies Join Facebook Advertising Boycott

    Multiple high-profile companies have joined the ranks of those boycotting Facebook advertising over racist and violent content.

    Facebook has been under increasing pressure over what many perceive as a tolerance for racist and violent posts and groups, which Facebook says fall under free speech. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, and the renewed focus on equality, Facebook’s policy of non-interference isn’t flying with other companies.

    The movement comes following the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) calling out Facebook for tolerating posts and groups that promote racism and violence. A quick search by ADL researchers showed major companies’ ads side-by-side with content many would deem offensive.

    “Facebook has been claiming that it is effectively addressing hate on its platforms. ADL and others, however, have continued to expose egregious examples of online hate, misinformation and extremism across the company’s products, particularly on Facebook and Instagram,” reads the ADL’s open letter. “Whether or not these posts technically violate Facebook’s complicated guidelines around hate speech, as a result of the platform’s casual placement of ads, paid advertisements run a risk of being placed next to divisive (and sometimes blatantly hateful) content. Indeed, even a cursory investigation conducted by ADL’s analysts immediately surfaced examples of prominent brands’ advertising displayed on newsfeeds next to hateful and conspiratorial content. Although we have not spoken to these companies, we can assume that their intentions when buying advertising on Facebook did not include being displayed alongside such content.”

    As a result of the ADL’s open letter, company after company has pulled their advertising from Facebook and Instagram. Coca-Cola, The Hershey Company, Levi Strauss & Co, Verizon, Mozilla, Upwork, REI, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The North Face and Eddie Bauer are just a few of the organizations that have joined the boycott.

    The lost revenue appears to be having an impact, as Facebook has started announcing changes to their policies in response. Whether these changes will go far enough remains to be seen.

  • Upwork CEO Pushing to Build a Freelance Economy at Scale

    Upwork CEO Pushing to Build a Freelance Economy at Scale

    The world’s largest freelancing network Upwork raised $187 million in their initial public offering this week. They currently have 375,000 freelancers working for nearly 500,000 clients.

    Upwork is growing exponentially because of the network effect says Upwork CEO, Stephane Kasriel. “It takes a long time to build the network effect necessary to do this at scale. The spin wheel at some point starts to really accelerate. The network effect is one of the main sources of really strong competitive motes.”

    Stephane Kasriel, Upwork Inc. CEO discussed their new IPO and business model on Bloomberg Technology:

    Freelancers Use Upwork for More Freedom

    The specific segment of the freelance economy that we serve people tend to be highly skilled. Over 80 percent of the users on Upwork have a college degree and 34 percent have a post graduate degree. These are people that are truly doing this by choice. If the wanted a traditional W2 job they could easily get one.

    What they are getting through Upwork is they get more freedom. They choose to be their own boss. They get more flexibility, they can work from anywhere on the schedule they choose. They essentially choose their clients. On top of that, they typically make significantly more money than they would through the local job market.

    50 Percent of Freelancers Don’t Want to be Employees

    What we hear from freelancers is that they would rather receive a higher pay through Upwork and then choose their own benefits than work for a traditional employer. We surveyed freelancers and asked them how much money would a traditional employer have to pay you to convince you to take a full-time job with them and literally 50 percent of the respondents said no amount of money. This is really something choice as opposed to doing it by necessity.

    Using IPO Funds to Grow the Business

    We are going to use the IPO funds to try and get more new clients signing up every single day as well as getting the existing clients to spend more on the platform including cross-selling clients from one category to the other.

    We see a lot is clients start, for instance, by hiring developers on Upwork and then we get them to realize we also have designers on the platform and progressively one thing leads to another and they start spending across the 70 categories on the site. Ultimately, this is about creating more jobs on the platform because that is what we need more to fulfill the need for work that freelancers have on the site.

    The reason why investors have been really interested in the company is because of the competitive motes in this business. This is not an overnight success. This company has been around through the predecessor companies that merged together for almost 20 years. It takes a long time to build the network effect necessary to do this at scale.

    100 Percent of Upwork Freelancers Are From Word-of-Mouth

    Once you get the spin wheel going it feeds itself. Today, 100 percent of freelancers who signup on Upwork do so through word-of-mouth. Also, 80 percent of business on the buyers’ side come from free channels including word-of-mouth. The spin wheel at some point starts to really accelerate. The network effect is one of the main sources of really strong competitive motes. We think it is going to be really hard for others to imitate.

    We continue to innovate a lot as well and spend significantly on research and development. By the way, we use freelancers a lot too. There are 1,500 people who work at Upwork and 1,100 of them are freelancers. We are able to attract really really top talent from around the world to innovate and continue to push forward as we build this freelance economy.