Upwork Focus: ‘Raise Awareness,’ Continue Momentum

Upwork, the work marketplace looking to connect businesses with independent talent, is announcing its financial results for the recent quarter, saying it is striving to increase connectivity even amid various points of strife in the world right now.

A letter to shareholders cited the new amount of global uncertainty and conflict, which Upwork said had shown the strength of its businesses.

The report says Upwork’s momentum has come along with innovations like Project Catalog Consultations, a debut of boosted proposals and availability, with more simplified packaging for non-Enterprise clients.

The company has also rolled out better in-contract messaging between clients and talent, which can help with building relationships.

And the company said it would be focused more on “raising awareness,” adding more customers and prospects.

The company said it had been aware of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, with around 10% of the 2021 revenue for Upwork coming from Ukraine, Russia or Belarus. Upwork decided to suspend operations in Russia and Belarus as of March 6, ending the active contracts by May 1.

The company hosted a conference call on April 27 to discuss the results.

PYMNTS wrote that Upwork has recently partnered with Catch, the portable benefits program, in order to offer more access to healthcare benefits and personal payroll for independent workers with accounts with the company.

See more: Upwork Expands Freelancers’ Benefits Access With Catch Partnership

Upwork research reports that 36% of the U.S. workforce freelanced in 2021, with Catch giving freelancers, contractors and other independent workers who were looking to access personal payroll services like health insurance or automatic tax withholding.

Sam Bright, chief product and experience officer with Upwork, said the partnership had been “in service of enabling freelancers to do the work they love without worrying about the complexity of securing their benefits and finances.”

“With Catch and our other talent offering partnerships, we aim to empower highly skilled professionals to stay laser-focused on their careers and business opportunities,” Bright said, according to the report.