.jpg)
%20(1).png)
.jpg)
.png)
Our expanded offerings help companies narrow their skill gaps, accelerate agility and innovation, and prevent burnout as they scale their businesses and workforces. Talent get greater control over when, how, and with whom they work and save time and energy when finding new projects.
Considering which issues we have the greatest potential to positively affect, and which are critical to our ability to maintain trust in the market, we synthesized our ESG materiality assessment findings into the following priorities:
We seek to help improve people’s lives by promoting work-life balance, enabling flexibility, optimizing accessibility, and unlocking freelancers’ access to clients and industries.
.jpg)
Our webinars, interactive workshops, Expert Talks, and virtual community meetups in 2021 covered industry- and/or region-specific strategies for building a successful business on Upwork.
Over the past year, our Community Team began developing the Upwork Academy to connect more talent with the support they need to excel on the work marketplace.
In 2021, The Upwork Foundation gave a total of $800,000 to eight high-impact nonprofits that provide critical workforce training, job placement, and financial support to communities in need.
The way information is processed and presented can often worsen underlying inequities. At Upwork, we take a proactive approach to reducing systemic-level biases. In 2020, we developed our “Inclusion by Design” principles to serve as a guidepost for our team when developing any new offerings or services. These principles, which were shared across the company in 2021, are as follows:
.svg){kind=icon}
.jpg)
We cannot deny the innumerable effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on the safety, security, and wellbeing of many around the world. We are deeply thankful for the frontline workers that continue to place our collective good above their own wellbeing, and we acknowledge the sacrifices that every individual has made to cope with the added responsibilities of life at home.
In our commitment to shift the market, rather than react to it, we’re continuously pushing ourselves to find better ways to care for our people. Along with our child-care subsidy program, the launch of our Care.com partnership was instrumental in helping caretakers find and secure quality home- and center-based child and elderly care.
In 2021, we offered weekly stretching and meditation sessions hosted by a freelancer on Upwork. Our partnership with Modern Health also covers free health and wellness coaching in the form of virtual video or text therapy and guided digital programs and meditations. See our full list of benefits.
.jpg)
GlowUP is Upwork’s enrichment program crafted by and for our leaders of color in collaboration with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. We completed two modules of the program in 2021 that consisted of 60-90 minute sessions.
.jpg)
UBCs serve a critical role in forging relationships and creating a sense of connection and belonging within our growing hybrid workforce.
With the support of our DIBs team, our UBC leaders—employees across the company who develop UBC strategy and programming—drive employee engagement and impact.
In 2021, we adopted a new Global Environmental Policy that outlines our environmental commitments related to the following areas:
.jpg)
.jpg)
Our materiality assessment reinforced the fact that stakeholders care deeply about our commitment to ethical business practices, data security and privacy, responsible use of data, and emerging tech and ethics.
Our on-platform policies extend our commitment to ethical practices to our work marketplace and are designed to build trust not only in Upwork, but among our customers. These policies include:
Further guidance on how to safely, securely, and ethically use the work marketplace can be found on our trust and safety page.
Upwork’s Inclusive Sourcing program is designed to help underrepresented communities compete, build wealth, and thrive. In 2021, we challenged ourselves to increase representation of underrepresented suppliers in our RFP exercises and increase underrepresented supplier spend going forward.
.jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)
.svg){kind=icon}
.png){kind=avatar}
.png)
.png)
%20(1).png)