2023

Upwork Impact Report

Introduction

“Our platform is not only a place for professionals to match with businesses, it's the world's largest work marketplace, enabling people from across the globe to access economic opportunity by collaborating and executing projects at a breathtaking pace and scale.”

Hayden Brown

President & CEO, Upwork
See the full report

2023 at a Glance

$689.1M
in revenue
$4.1B
in GSV1
851k
active clients2
$3.8B
in total talent earnings
$23.4B
in total talent lifetime earnings
100% carbon-free electricity powering our offices and remote work³
149k Learning Paths and Courses completed via Upwork Academy
18 mt Scope 1 and 2 
market-based emissions⁴
6k freelancers on Upwork received coaching
All emissions verified by
independent third party
$1.3M donated through The Upwork Foundation and matching gifts
The Upwork Research Institute launched to guide organizations through workforce transformation

Our People⁵

Our Team

798
employees 

located across 20 states in the US
2,500
independent team members
located in 92 countries

Board of Directors

50%
women
25%
people of color
13%
self-identify
as LGBTQ+

Senior Management

63% Men
35% Women⁶
2%
self-identify as LGBTQ+

All Employees

50% Men
49% Women⁸
4.6%
self-identify as LGBTQ+

Innovating the World’s Marketplace

From launching new product features to streamlining existing tools, we've made our platform more efficient, intuitive, and accessible, empowering our customers to build relationships and work together on critical, fulfilling projects.
Boosting Productivity
Enhancing Collaboration
Advancing Accessibility
Improving the Talent Journey
See the full report

“Upwork Chat Pro has made submitting proposals much easier for me. I am not a great writer and I appreciate this tool being made available!”

—Linda W., Top Rated Freelancer Plus User

Guiding Workforce Transformation

Launched in 2023, The Upwork Research Institute exemplifies our commitment to studying fundamental shifts in how work gets done, how workforces need to evolve, and how businesses can leverage independent talent to build for tomorrow.
Beyond just earning a living, the appeal of freelancing continues to lie in the flexibility and control it offers compared to traditional nine-to-five jobs. Professionals value being their own bosses and having control over their financial futures.

More than 85% of freelancers believe the best days for freelancing lie ahead

38%
of the U.S. workforce—64 million people—freelanced in the past year.⁹

Our Global Work Principles

Upwork is not only rethinking how work gets done, but also how it relates to our collective wellbeing. We created our Global Work Principles in 2023 to better articulate how we want our work marketplace to support the long-term success of freelancers and small businesses.
1

We believe work should fit into our lives, not the other way around

4

We believe everyone should have equal access to opportunity

2

We believe in the transformative power of a global workforce

5

We believe it should be easier to be an entrepreneur

3

We believe in 21st century skills and knowledge work

6

We believe remote work and freelancing should build prosperity

Sustainability and Impact Strategy

To ensure that our sustainability and impact objectives continue to align with our mission and business priorities, we conducted our second ESG materiality assessment in July 2023.
See the full report
2023 ESG Materiality Matrix

UN SDGs

To further evaluate how our work marketplace can create positive external impact, we began to align our programs and reporting in 2023 with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We believe our work directly supports the following SDGs:

¹Gross services volume, or GSV, includes both client spend on our work marketplace and additional fees charged to customers for other services.
²We define an active client as a client that has had spend activity on our work marketplace during the 12 months preceding the date of measurement. Active client figures as of 12/31/2023.
³We purchase carbon-free electricity from local energy providers via direct contracts where possible and, where not, match all non-renewable energy we use with Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).
⁴Market-based emissions in metric tons CO2 equivalent.
⁵People figures as of 12/31/23.
⁶Does not include the 2% who did not share gender information.
⁷American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races. Graph does not include those who did not provide race/ethnicity data.
⁸Does not include the 1% who did not share gender information.
2023 Freelance Forward Report

Our Sustainability and Impact Priorities

As cornerstones of our reporting and development as an organization, our sustainability and impact priorities help us address sustainability risks and opportunities across our value chain. They also focus our efforts on supporting economic opportunity in our larger community.
See the full report
Economic Opportunity
Environmental Sustainability
Workforce Innovation and Wellbeing
Business Integrity
Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
Supplier Engagement

Economic Opportunity

Our work marketplace enables people to tap into a global network of collaborators, earn a living, and build prosperity in their local communities. In a 2023 survey of freelancers on Upwork, more than 70% of talent agreed that they can make more money on Upwork than at a similar job in their area.

Upwork Academy

5
new learning
paths launched
119k
learning paths completed by
talent
13
unique courses
available
57
third-party courses launched on our Education Marketplace
30k
courses completed
by talent
9
customer-generated mini courses with over 20k views
125
community events
23k+
total event attendees
84
NPS for our newly launched workshop
6k
freelancers coached
72
average
NPS

Community Investment

In an effort to close the global opportunity gap, The Upwork Foundation funds initiatives that connect marginalized communities with life-sustaining knowledge work. Since 2018, more than $4.6 million has been directed to 46 nonprofits dedicated to building inclusive economic opportunities around the globe.

$1.27M

donated to 13 grantees in 2023

$50k

lent to 2.6k borrowers on Kiva through our 2023 Lending Challenge

56k

beneficiaries reached, 1.4k people trained for work, 
1.9k jobs secured through our 2022 grant-making

Workforce Innovation
and Wellbeing

Work looks different now and that means companies do too. We're embracing this transformation by creating a remote-first organization that unlocks sustainable productivity through flexibility and independent, asynchronous work.
Our Working Principles
Trust and be trustworthy
Start with “why”
Have a bias towards action
Communicate with clarity
Disagree, debate and commit
Sweat the details
Overcome ambiguity
Stay curious
Our Values
Play to win as a team
Build and break fearlessly
Be customer zero
Commit to excellence
Workforce Engagement Surveys
In 2023, our second all-company Pulse survey saw a 78% participation rate and 70% of our employees who participated agreed with the statement
"Overall, I feel extremely satisfied with Upwork as a place to work."
Key Benefits Updates
Integrated Nayya and Rightway to help employees better navigate their benefits
Offered comprehensive adoption, fertility, and pregnancy support through Carrot
See a comprehensive list of our benefits in the full report

Diversity, Inclusion, and
Belonging (DIBs)

Our commitment to DIBs allows us to create a more equitable, meritocratic work environment that puts people first and supports the dynamic needs of our team members.

We are cultivating a workplace where all of our team members are able to show up as authentically as they’d like and build the relationships they need to do their best work.

Our DIBs Pillars

1
Realize individual potential
2
Equalize the everyday employee experience
3
Provide equitable access to advancement and growth
4
Look like where we hire
5
Balance representation across job levels and departments

Upwork Belonging Communities

We continue to foster authenticity, inclusivity, and collaboration through our Upwork Belonging Communities (UBCs). UBCs make it possible for team members to find their unique fit within our Upwork community without having to sacrifice meaningful aspects of their identitites.
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community
Logo for Upwork Community

Environmental Sustainability

We strive to demonstrate how a remote-first company can make work more sustainable and mitigate its contribution to climate change and environmental degradation.

See the full report

Highlights

18 mt Scope 1 and 2 market-based emissions¹¹
All emissions verified by independent third party
100% carbon-free electricity powering our offices and remote work¹²
100% of E-waste reused or recycled
Annual reporting to CDP, placing Upwork in the top 27th percentile of companies rated
$4.5M earned by sustainability professionals on Upwork

Our Footprint

Energy
Assured for 2023
Unit
2021
2022
2023
Renewable grid
MWh
83.0
94.1
94.2
Non-renewable grid
MWh
751.5
717.6
705.5
Retired RECs
MWh
(752)
(718)
(706)
Total Electricity
MWh
835.4
811.7
799.7
Percent Renewable
%
100
100
100
Natural Gas
Therms
3,095
2.873
3,424
Remote Work
MWh
Not Calculated
800
25013
Emisions
Scope 1 & 2
Assured for 2023
Unit
2021
2022
2023
Scope 1
MTCO2e
0
0
0
Scope 1&2 - Location-Based
MTCO2e
354.1
368.8
368.8
Scope 1&2 - Market-Based
MTCO2e
16.4
15.3
18.2
Offsets Retired
MTCO2e
(16)
(15)
(18)
Emisions
Scope 3
Assured for 2023
Unit
2021
2022
2023
Business Travel
MTCO2e
40
215.9
385
Employee Commuting
MTCO2e
4.5
61
93.9
Purchased Goods & Services
MTCO2e
Not calculated
6,621.9
12,797.1
Remote Work
MTCO2e
Not calculated
355.4
96.2
Total Scope 3
MTCO2e
273.6
7,283.7
13,372.1
Offsets Retired
MTCO2e
(274)
(632)
(500)
¹¹Market-based emissions in metric tons CO2 equivalent.
¹²We purchase carbon-free electricity from local energy providers via direct contracts where possible and, where not, match all non-renewable energy we use with Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).
¹³The steep reduction in remote work electricity consumption and emissions from 2022 was due to a shift toward a more accurate accounting methodology.


Business Integrity

Our Values
Ethics Reporting
Human Rights
Trust and Safety
Information Security and Data Privacy
Responsible AI
Supplier Engagement
In 2023, we updated our Supplier Code of Conduct, clarifying the behavior we expect of the suppliers we work with and committing to actions to assess supply chain risks every year.
Inclusive Sourcing
Upwork increased the number of suppliers it engages from underrepresented communities by 12% from last year.
See the full report

Our Customers

“My clients appreciate the ability to focus on the bigger picture — AI gives them that freedom.”

Jacqueline DeStefano-Tangorra, Founder

OBIS

“Upwork is the glue that keeps us together and moving in the right direction.”

Kyle Evanko, COO

Canvas Beauty

“I didn't know it at the time, but the platform would change the entire trajectory of my career and life.”

Harold Rey Ladaran, Founder

Splace

“I cannot change the world head-on, but I can help designers that are earlier in their career.”

Mamun Srizon, Principal Visual Designer

Upwork

“I didn't realize my portfolio would attract so many people!”

Chisom Okwulehie, Founder

Juntero