Upwork: Difference between revisions

=== Quarterly Results ===

Upwork is one of the largest companies that connects freelancers and clients. It was formed in 2013 through a merger between oDesk and Elance<ref>https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/odesk-and-elance-announce-merger-2</ref>. However, it was in 2015 that Elance-oDesk rebranded to Upwork<ref>https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/05/elance-odesk-rebrands-as-upwork-debuts-slack-like-chat-platform/</ref>. Upwork went public in 2018, raising $187 million at around $1.5 billion valuation<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/upwork-ceo-on-ipo-day-we-do-not-incentivize-for-less-pay-for-freelancers.html</ref>. Its initial founders who include Odysseas Tsatalos, Stratis Karamanlakis, Beerud Sheth, Sanjay Noronha, and Srini Anumolu are no longer with the company<ref>https://morganoverholt.com/upwork-founder/</ref>. As of December 2021, Upwork had 650 employees. Throughout 2021, the company also employed 1,800 freelancers to perform internal duties<ref>https://investors.upwork.com/static-files/f9770045-d71e-48c5-a793-20ccde8be73f</ref>. The company is headquartered in California, United States.

The United States is an important market for Upwork in terms of clients and freelancers. In Q3 2022, Upwork derived 74.45% of its client revenue from the United States. Similarly, 26.28% of its freelance revenue in the same period was obtained from the same country. India and the Philippines are other markets that account for the largest portion of its freelance revenue. Upwork derived 13.79% and 12.14% of its freelance revenue from the two countries, respectively.

== Upwork Business Model ==

Upwork enables clients to post a job in its Talent Marketplace. A freelancer can then bid for such jobs using connects. Upwork offers freelancers free connects each month. Basic account freelancers get 10 free connects, while Freelance Plus freelancers get an additional 70 connects. However, freelancers will have to purchase more connects at $0.15 per connect once depleted<ref>https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062898-Use-Connects</ref>. Usually, connects used are refunded if the freelancer gets a chance to be interviewed by the client. Sometimes, the client invites a freelancer to send a proposal for a job posted. In this case, the freelancer won't pay for the proposal. Once clients hire a freelancer, they pay a processing fee. This is usually 5%, but some US clients who are eligible for ACH bank transfers pay 3%. Upwork also imposes a fee on the earnings made by a freelancer. The fee is based on a three-tier model. That is, payments between $0-$500 from a client attract a fee of 20%, while earnings between $500.01-$10,000 attracts a fee of 10%. Once a client's payment exceeds $10,000.01, the freelancer only pays 5%<ref>https://www.upwork.com/resources/upwork-vs-fiverr</ref>. It's important to note that the job expires after 30 days if the client doesn't take any action on it<ref>https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Expiration-of-jobs/m-p/134441</ref>.   

Upwork contracts are of four types: hourly, fixed-priced, project catalog and consultations. For hourly contracts, the minimum hourly rate is $3.00, while for fixed-priced contracts, the minimum rate is $5.00<ref>https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063418-Hourly-vs-Fixed-Price-Projects</ref>. Hourly contracts account for the largest portion of jobs posted on the platform. According to our latest tracking of jobs posted on the platform shown below, Upwork hourly jobs account for around 61% of the total number of jobs on the site. Project catalog and consultations contracts are described in the next section.