{"id":11119,"date":"2020-03-19T21:17:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T01:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/upwork-in-demand-talent-on-demand\/"},"modified":"2020-03-19T21:17:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T01:17:53","slug":"upwork-in-demand-talent-on-demand","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/upwork-in-demand-talent-on-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Upwork: In Demand Talent On Demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Upwork is the largest global freelancing platform, connecting businesses with talent all over the world. Specifically, Upwork is a transaction platform which lowers both search and transaction costs. Upwork benefits from cross side network effects \u2013 the more business postings that exist, the more talent is attracted to the platform and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Creating Value<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Upwork creates value for both the businesses and the freelancers. Businesses post a job describing a project and the skills required to complete the work. Both businesses and freelancers are empowered to find their own matches by searching the platform, however, Upwork utilizes algorithms to recommend the best projects\/freelancer matches. Upwork creates trust on the platform by verifying freelancers and companies and displaying various data to increase transparency. This includes skill level, success scores and client feedback.<\/p>\n

Businesses benefit from the flexibility offered by the Upwork platform. They can quickly augment their full-time employee base to complete projects as needed. They can immediately find talent with specific skills from a global pool of online specialists that would have otherwise been inaccessible. Freelancing platforms enable companies to get high quality work done at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee or conventional agency.<\/p>\n

From the freelancer perspective, Upwork enables talent to have freedom and flexibility to find jobs online. Upwork consolidates millions of projects, providing freelancers with top paying, quality work all in one place. Additionally, Upwork highlights ideal jobs for freelancers but gives total control to choose their own clients and projects. This reduces the time it would normally take for freelancers to find work<\/p>\n

Upwork also creates value by managing administrative tasks associated with freelance work. \u00a0There is an online workspace that encourages easy collaboration, enables communication and provides tools to verify hours worked. Upwork also handles all invoicing and billing for the projects with payment protection.<\/p>\n

Capturing Value<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Upwork captures value from both sides of the marketplace. From the freelancer, they take a fee based on the size of the client relationship. The pricing model is outlined below:<\/p>\n

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