According to PwC, 63% of global CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills. As a result, corporate demand for freelance workers is increasing. Labor economists expect freelancers to comprise as much as 50% of the workforce by 2019, allowing companies access to the talent and skill sets that fit their precise needs. Upwork’s Work Without Limits™ Executive Summit brought forward-thinking executives from Fortune 1000 companies to discuss the trends driving the future of work and how enterprise are rethinking and revising the talent frameworks of their organizations.

1. 2017 TRENDS REPORT
PRESENTED AT THE WORK WITHOUT LIMITS SUMMIT

2. THE WORK
REVOLUTION
STEPHANE KASRIEL
CEO, UPWORK

3. In order to replace most
humans, the AI won’t have
to do very spectacular
things.
YUVAL HARARI
AUTHOR & FUTURIST
2017
“

4. The cybernation revolution
will create a separate
nation of the poor, the
unskilled, the jobless.
LETTER SENT TO
PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON
IN 1964
“

5. Industrial technology is a
Frankenstein monster that
threatens to upend
manufacturing and
devour our civilization.
LETTER SENT TO
PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER
FROM THE MAYOR OF PALO ALTO
“

6. IS THIS TIME DIFFERENT?

7. PRODUCTIVITY IS SLOWING DOWNAVERAGEANNUAL
PERCENTCHANGE
1973 TO 1979 1979 TO 1990 1990 TO 2000 2000 TO 2007 2007 TO 2015
+1.2 PTS
+2.6 PTS
+2.2 PTS
+1.5 PTS
+1.2 PTS

8. LOCATION-
DEPENDENT WORK
IS AN INDUSTRIAL
ERA RELIC

9. JOBS HAVE
CHANGED …

10. … BUT WE ARE STILL
DOING THIS TO
OURSELVES …

11. … EVEN THOUGH
TECHNOLOGY CAN
BRING THE WORK
TO THE WORKER

12. FUTURE
TECHNOLOGY WILL
MAKE LOCATION
EVEN LESS
RELEVANT

13. In thirty years’ time,
people are going to look
back and wonder why
offices ever existed.
RICHARD BRANSON
FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP
“

14. TEAMS WILL LOOK
LIKE MOVIE CREWS

15. MORE PEOPLE WILL MAKE THE
LEAP TO INDEPENDENT WORK

16. $1,000,000,000,000

17. “Online talent platforms are
increasingly connecting people to the
right work opportunities. By 2025 they
could add $2.7 trillion to global GDP,
ameliorate many of the persistent
problems in the world’s labor markets.
MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE

18. MARY MEEKER
INTERNET TRENDS 2015
RETAIL TRANSPORTATION LODGING WORK

19. UPWORK BY THE NUMBERS
$1B+
GSV PER YEAR
5M+
CLIENTS
12M+
FREELANCERS
180
COUNTRIES
Dev G.
IT Specialist
Firmo S.
Customer Service
Danila V.
Data Scientist
Tracey G.
Graphic Designer

20. WORK WITHOUT LIMITS

21. WORKFORCE
MARKETPLACE:
INVENT YOUR FUTURE
MICHAEL BILTZ
FUTURIST, ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY LABS
ACCENTURE.COM/TECHNOLOGY/VISION

22. CHANGING BUSINESS
PRIORITIES
NECESSITATES
TRANSFORMING THE
TRADITIONAL ORG
STRUCTURE

23. CHANGING
WORKER
PRIORITIES
NECESSITATES NEW
TYPES OF
RELATIONSHIPS
WITH YOUR
WORKFORCE

24. TECHNOLOGY
ADVANCEMENT & CHANGE
WILL INCREASE PRESSURE
ON COMPANIES TO FILL
OPEN ROLES

25. INTERNAL & EXTERNAL
MARKETPLACES

26. THE FUTURE
WORKFORCE
ERIC GREGG
CEO & FOUNDER, INAVERO

27. WORKFORCES
NEED TO EVOLVE …

28. … OR GET LEFT BEHIND

29. ABOUT
INAVERO

30. ALL SOURCES OF INFORMATION
ARE NOT CREATED EQUALLY
LINDSAY LOHAN
“WHY is everyone in SUCH
a panic about hurricane (I’m
calling Sally)…? Stop
projecting negativity. Think
positive and pray for
peace”
JADEN SMITH
“If We Exhale More Than
Inhale We Feed The Plants.
This Will End World Hunger.
#Letitout #Veggies
#LikeDUH”
RON ARTEST
“Damnit I lost 70lbs I look
anoronix”
KANYE WEST
“Damn… the NFL been
around longer than our
government. We’ve had 48
Super Bowls and only 44
presidents. I didn’t know
that.”

31. IT’S NOT JUST
CELEBRITIES,
WE HAVE OUR OWN
BIASES AS WELL
“Disgraceful photo of recreational hunter happily
posing next to a Triceratops he just slaughtered.
Please share so the world can name and shame this
despicable man.”

32. STUDY OBJECTIVES
CONDUCT A STUDY OF WORKFORCE HIRING IN THE US,
FOCUSING ON KNOWLEDGE WORK, TO
‣ UNDERSTAND THE STATE OF THE WORKFORCE TODAY &
FUTURE TALENT DEMANDS
‣ ESTABLISH A BLUEPRINT FOR THE EVOLUTION OF WORK
‣ EXPLORE HOW TEAMS ARE LEVERAGING FREELANCERS
‣ EXAMINE NEW AREAS RIPE FOR HIRING INNOVATION

34. MARKETING
WEB, MOBILE & SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
ENGINEERING & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
SALES
OPERATIONS
LEGAL
THE PROBLEM IS EVEN MORE ACUTE
FOR ENTERPRISE ORGANIZATIONS
HIRING HAS
GOTTEN HARDER
IT STILL TAKES
TOO LONG
POSITIONS ARE
OPEN LONGER
37.25 38.5 39.75 41
37
37
38
39
39
41
3XSAY IT’S HARDER THAN EASIER
40DAYS TO FILL A POSITION

35. ENTERPRISES ARE RETHINKING
THEIR TALENT STRATEGIES
THEIR HIRING
STRATEGIES ARE
EVOLVING
THEY USE
A RANGE
OF TALENT
THEY EMBRACE
LOCATION
INDEPENDENCE
77%BELIEVE COMPANIES WHO DON’T
EVOLVE ARE AT A LOSS
50%USE FLEXIBLE WORKERS
62%HAVE AT LEAST 1 PERSON
WORKING REMOTELY

36. ENTERPRISES ARE CREATING
THE BEST TEAMS OF THE FUTURE
FREELANCERS ARE
FASTER TO
CONTRIBUTE
FREELANCERS
HELP
TEAMS SCALE
FREELANCERS
GET MORE
DONE
1/2 TIMETO DELIVER RESULTS VS.
A FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE
66%USE FREELANCERS TO
MEET PROJECT DEMANDS
84%WOULD EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT
PROJECT SETBACKS

37. BLUEPRINTS FOR
SUCCESSFUL ADOPTION
HIRE BASED ON
QUALITY, NOT PRICE
LEVERAGE
TECHNOLOGY
USE FREELANCERS FOR
MANY PROJECT TYPES
2XMORE SATISFIED
81%OF COMPANIES USE 2+ TECH TOOLS
2XMORE LIKELY IN 3+ TYPES
OF SITUATIONS

38. IT’S A MARATHON,
NOT A SPRINT

39. A PARTING THOUGHT
WORKFORCES NEED TO
EVOLVE OR GET LEFT
BEHIND

40. THE FUTURE OF
TEAMWORK:
COLLABORATION
TIM SANDERS
TECHNOLOGY PIONEER
TIMSANDERS.COM/UPWORK

41. Toy Story was
a thousand
problems
solved.
ED CATMUL
PIXAR
“

44. THE POWER OF DIVERSE THINKING
INCREASED PROBABILITY TO FIND A SOLUTION
2 3 4 5 6
75%
200%
300%
100%
50%
UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES ON A TEAM (N=186)

46. VERBAL
7%
AUDIBLE
38%
VISUAL
55%
Source: Dr. Albert Mehrabian, University of California.
HOW PEOPLE DECODE MEANING

47. VIDEO PLACEHOLDER
(16 x 9)

48. 7 HABITS OF
EFFECTIVE REMOTE
COLLABORATION
‣ PREPARE YOUR COLLABORATORS
‣ COMMUNICATE AS VISUALLY AS POSSIBLE
‣ CONDUCT OCCASIONAL REAL-TIME MEETINGS
‣ MAKE CONVERSATIONS IDEA-BASED
‣ REWARD CONTRIBUTORS WITH RECOGNITION
‣ EXPECT COLLABORATION FROM ALL TALENTS
‣ LEAD WITH ENERGY, HUMOR & SPIRIT

49. VIDEO CONFERENCING
REMOTE COLLABORATION TOOLS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
DOCUMENT SHARING

50. LOVE IS
THE
KILLER APP

54. PLATFORM SOURCING
HOW FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES ARE
ADOPTING ONLINE FREELANCER PLATFORMS
GREETJE CORPORAAL
OXFORD INTERNET INSTITUTE
VILI LEHDONVIRTA
OXFORD INTERNET INSTITUTE

55. PLATFORM SOURCING GREW 26%
OVER THE PAST YEAR
Source: Online Labour Index.
ONLINELABORINDEX
100
110
120
130
140
MAY 2016 JUL 2016 SEP 2016 NOV 2016 JAN 2017 MAR 2017 MAY 2017 JUL 2017

56. Source: Online Labour Index.

57. WHY
DO ENTERPRISES ADOPT PLATFORMS?

58. HOW
DO ENTERPRISES ADOPT PLATFORMS?

59. HOW
TO ORGANIZE FOR SUSTAINED
ADOPTION?

60. YOUR BLUEPRINT
FOR SUCCESS
DEVIN FIDLER
RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE
CATHLEEN NILSON
HEAD OF STRATEGIC SOURCING, SAMSUNG
RICH POSTLER
VP OF HUMAN RESOURCES, PROCTER & GAMBLE
PAUL ESTES
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CONTENT STRATEGY, MICROSOFT

61. IN-DEMAND &
ON-DEMAND
CRITICAL SKILL SETS & WHERE TO FIND THEM
RICH PEARSON
SVP OF MARKETING & CATEGORIES, UPWORK

63. IT’S NEVER BEEN HARDER TO FIND GREAT TALENT
AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS TO FILL VACANT JOBS
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
20
25
30
15
Source: Dice Holdings, Haver Analytics, DB Global Markets Research.

64. 5,000+ SKILLS
IT & DEVELOPMENT
WEB & MOBILE DEV
NETWORK ADMIN
WEB & MOBILE DESIGN
QA TESTING
DESIGN & CREATIVE
GRAPHIC & PRINT
UX/UI
ILLUSTRATION
VIDEO EDITING
SALES & MARKETING
EMAIL MARKETING
SEO
LEAD GENERATION
TELEMARKETING
CONTENT
BLOG & ARTICLE WRITING
TECHNICAL WRITING
EDITING
TRANSLATION
OPERATIONS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
VIRTUAL ADMIN
WEB RESEARCH
CUSTOMER SERVICE

65. HOW ARE ENTERPRISES
LEVERAGING FREELANCERS
IT & ENGINEERINGOPERATIONS MARKETING

66. RICHMOND CONCEPT
‣ OWNED BY MELODY RICHMOND
‣ BASED IN FLINT, MICHIGAN
‣ TOP RATED AGENCY
ON UPWORK
‣ 10 FREELANCERS
‣ CLIENTS INCLUDE: SUBARU,
COCA-COLA, AIRBNB, CHEVY,
WALMART, BALLPARK
& BROOKLYN NETS

67. POWER
PATTY MCCORD
WORKPLACE CULTURE MAVERICK

68. TEAM

69. PLAY TO WIN
HIGH PERFORMANCE & RESULTS
ARE ALL THAT MATTER
BE A GREAT TEAM TO BE FROM

70. TALENT

71. PATTY’S
ALGORITHM FOR
SUCCESS
IS WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO—
THAT YOU ARE
EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD AT
DOING—SOMETHING WE NEED
SOMEONE TO BE GREAT AT?

72. DESIGN FOR
CHANGE
‣ FREEDOM
‣ FLEXIBILITY
‣ FUTURE

73. TRANSFORMATION

74. ERIC GILPIN
SVP, UPWORK ENTERPRISE
YEAR ONE:
HIRING ON
UPWORK ENTERPRISE

75. THERE’S A
TALENT REVOLUTION
HAPPENING NOW

76. TECHNOLOGY IS
ENABLING
FREELANCING
ESTIMATED
FREELANCER
EARNINGS IN
PAST YEAR
AMERICANS
FREELANCING
LAST YEAR
START
FREELANCING
MORE BY CHOICE
FREELANCING IS ON THE RISE
55M $1T
63% 73%
Source: Freelancing in America (2016) study commissioned by Freelancers Union & Upwork, administered by Edelman Berland.

77. $55MU.S. FREELANCE
WORKFORCE
$7BINVESTED IN
HR TECH STARTUPS
ONLINE MANAGEMENT
OF WORK
ON DEMAND
LABOR FORCE
ADVANCEMENTS IN
TECH & TALENT SUPPLY ARE DRIVING THE
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF LABOR

78. CONNECTING
BUSINESSES
WITH QUALITY
TALENT
REGARDLESS OF
LOCATION
FASTER THAN
EVER BEFORE
OUR VISION

79. TALENT
SOURCING
TECHNOLOGY
PLATFORM
WHITE-
GLOVE
SERVICE
THE DIGITAL TALENT
PLATFORM SOLUTION

80. HOW A GLOBAL 100 CPG COMPANY GREW
ADOPTION & INCREASED REALIZED SAVINGS
COST SAVINGS
‣ 80% TO 90%
TIME SAVINGS
‣ 92% TIME-TO-HIRE
‣ 50% TO 66%
PROJECT TIME
QUALITY OF WORK
‣ 4.92 OUT OF 5
AVERAGE
FEEDBACK SCORE
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
YEAR 5
21 PROJECTS
2 COUNTRIES
$4K SPEND
153 PROJECTS
2 COUNTRIES
$69K SPEND
473 PROJECTS
5 COUNTRIES
$1.1M SPEND
1332 PROJECTS
28 COUNTRIES
$4.5M SPEND
3808 PROJECTS
30 COUNTRIES
$10M+ SPEND

81. MARGARET SHAW LILANI
VP OF TALENT SERVICES, UPWORK
TALENT
FIRST
WHY YOUR TALENT
ACQUISITION STRATEGY
IS FALLING SHORT

82. INTRODUCTION & STAFFING
INDUSTRY HISTORY
UPWORK-CURATED TALENT
UPWORK TALENT DELIVERED
RECAP & TAKEAWAYS

83. MARGARET SHAW LILANI
VP, TALENT SERVICES
‣ GLOBAL TEAM LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
‣ DEEP STAFFING INDUSTRY & RECRUITING
BACKGROUND (12+ YEARS)
‣ EXPERIENCE SUPPORTING FORTUNE 100
& AMLAW 100
‣ CREATED, BUILT & GREW LEGAL TEMP
STAFFING DIVISION FROM $3M STARTUP
TO $100M+ IN 3 YEARS (EPIQ SYSTEMS)
‣ JOINED UPWORK IN DECEMBER 2016

84. TRADITIONAL STAFFING
THE OLD WORLD

85. UPWORK
TALENT
SERVICES:
THE NEW
WORLD
‣ FLEXIBLE
‣ SCALABLE
‣ ON DEMAND
‣ EVERYWHERE

86. TALENT SERVICES
CONNECTS UPWORK
TALENT WITH
UPWORK ENTERPRISE
CLIENTS

87. CURATED TALENT

88. FREELANCER
TALENT SERVICES
TALENT SUPPLY
AGENCY
“INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR” OR
“CONSULTANT”
HAS EXPERTISE IN A SPECIFIC
SKILLSET
GREAT TO AUGMENT YOUR
TEAM IN A FLEXIBLE MANNER
OR FOR SHORT-TERM PROJECTS
TEAM OF 2-200+ PEOPLE
INCLUDES AN ACCOUNT
MANAGER AND / OR PROJECT
MANAGER
GREAT FOR LARGER PROJECTS
REQUIRING MORE
COORDINATION OR VARIED
SKILLS

89. TALENT SERVICES
TALENT SUPPLY
12M FREELANCERS
~1% TOP RATED
~3% PREMIUM
TOP RATED
FREELANCERS
PROVEN EXPERIENCE
ON UPWORK
PREMIUM
FREELANCERS
SKILL-VERIFIED,
INTERVIEWED

91. RICHMOND CONCEPT
‣ OWNED BY MELODY RICHMOND
‣ BASED IN FLINT, MICHIGAN
‣ TOP RATED AGENCY
ON UPWORK
‣ 10 FREELANCERS

93. SOFTERMII
‣ ON UPWORK SINCE 2014
‣ BASED IN LA & UKRAINE
‣ $130K 12M FLE
‣ TR, 97% JSS
‣ $30 HOURLY RATE
‣ $13K AVERAGE
PROJECT SIZE
‣ 25 TEAM MEMBERS

95. TALENT
DELIVERED

96. TALENT SERVICES
CLIENT SERVICE
TALENT
SOURCING
PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT
SPECIALISTS TO HELP YOU FIND
THE RIGHT FREELANCERS FOR
YOUR NEEDS
EXPERTS TO HELP YOU DELIVER
SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

97. TALENT SERVICES
HANDS-ON CLIENTS
AN ENTERPRISE CLIENT NEEDED A LARGE TEAM
OF DATA ENTRY FREELANCERS TO IDENTIFY &
PERFORM TASKS REGARDING GEOLOCATION
DATA POINTS
WORKING CLOSELY WITH HIRING MANAGERS,
TALENT SOLUTIONS HELPED SCOPE THE
SKILLS & TALENT LEVEL NEEDED
THE RESULTS
‣ 5 TEAMS TOTALING 620 FREELANCERS
‣ 200 FREELANCERS HIRED WITHIN
30 DAYS
‣ 161,000 TOTAL HOURS BILLED

98. TALENT SERVICES
HANDS ON CONSULTATIVE SERVICES
PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT
ON-DEMAND
TALENT STORES
LARGE TEAM
SUPPORT
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDANCE ON
WHEN AND HOW TO USE
UPWORK
STANDARDIZED
OPERATIONS TO DELIVER
PROJECTS FASTER
GREAT FOR FREQUENT/
SMALL NEEDS WITH QUICK
SLAs
TALENT & SETUP FOR
ONGOING OR ONE-TIME
PROJECTS

99. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
TALENT STORES
CHALLENGE
F500 COMPANY HAS MANY TIME-SENSITIVE
PROJECTS, WHICH ARE SIMILAR IN SCOPE &
SKILL REQUIREMENTS
SOLUTION
‣ ESTABLISH STANDARDIZED PROJECT
DESCRIPTIONS, DELIVERY SLAs &
OUTPUT QUALITY STANDARDS
‣ UPWORK PRE-VETTED TALENT READY
TO ACCEPT & DELIVER WORK
‣ PREDEFINED REQUEST & DELIVERY
PROCESSES, INTEGRATED WITH
CLIENT SYSTEMS & TOOLS

100. RESULTS
TRANSLATION STORE
‣ TRANSLATE DOCUMENTS INTO
DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
‣ EXAMPLE: 200 PAGES FOR TRANSLATION
INTO 9 LANGUAGES IN LESS THAN
5 BUSINESS DAYS
DATA VISUALIZATION STORE
‣ DESIGN FOR MARKETING &
BUSINESS MATERIALS
‣ EXAMPLE: POWERPOINT
BEAUTIFICATION & CHART BUILDING IN
LESS THAN 4 BUSINESS DAYS

101. TALENT SERVICES SUMMARY
CURATED TALENT
‣ VET TALENT FROM A POOL OF OVER
12M FREELANCERS
‣ IDENTIFY & PROMOTE TOP TALENT VIA
THE TALENT AGENCY
DELIVERED TALENT
‣ HELP CLIENTS WRITE & POST JOBS
‣ SOURCE TALENT FOR CLIENT JOBS
‣ MANAGE CLIENT FREELANCER
PROGRAMS & SUPPORT
LARGE PROJECTS

102. UPWORK
ENTERPRISE
A PEEK AT UPWORK’S
FUTURE EVOLUTION
BONNIE SHERMAN
VP OF PRODUCT, UPWORK
SCOTT DICKIE
SENIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR, UPWORK

103. VIDEO CREATED BY
OLEKSANDR ZAICHENKO
ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE
4 DAYS
PROJECT DURATION
10 HOURS
PRODUCTION TIME
$200
TOTAL COST

104. MARK
CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER
SAMANTHA
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
AN UPWORK ENTERPRISE CLIENT
REBECCA
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING,
BEVERAGE BRANDS
SULLIVAN
INTERNATIONAL

105. REBECCA
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, BEVERAGE
BRANDS
Rebecca needs a microsite
with video content for the
global launch of Sullivan’s
new beverage brand. She
needs the site localized into
3 languages & completed in
30 days. She has a $100K
budget.

114. TAKEAWAYS
‣ QUICKLY IDENTIFY
PREMIUM VETTED
TALENT
‣ VIEW AGENCY
FEEDBACK &
EXPERIENCE
‣ COMPARE PROPOSALS
FROM MULTIPLE
AGENCIES
‣ EASILY COMMUNICATE
THROUGHOUT THE
BIDDING PROCESS

115. MARK
CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER
Mark needs to add
4 customer support
agents to support the
beverage campaign. Mark
wants agents based in New
Orleans who are familiar
with the Mardi Gras
festivities.

124. TAKEAWAYS
‣ HIRE CONFIDENTLY
WITH ACCESS TO
PRE-VETTED TALENT
‣ SEARCH GLOBALLY OR
FOCUS ON SPECIFIC
GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
‣ SHARE PROFILES &
HIRES WITH PROJECT
TEAM

125. SAMANTHA
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
A number of managers on
Samantha’s team are hiring
talent on Upwork. She
would like to track her
team’s spend & get a sense
of how other companies are
leveraging Upwork.

127. Intermediate Entry Level

128. TAKEAWAYS
‣ VIEW SPEND &
BUDGET DATA AT
A GLANCE
‣ ACCESS TO SAVINGS &
TRENDS REPORTS
‣ COMPARE & SPEND
USAGE WITH
OTHER COMPANIES

129. WRAP-UP
‣ COMPLETE LARGE
PROJECTS
‣ HIRE WITH CONFIDENCE
‣ INTERACT WITH WORLD-
CLASS REPORTING

130. WRAP-UP
‣ DO THESE STORIES
RESONATE WITH YOU?
‣ WHAT CHALLENGES ARE
YOU FACING?
‣ HOW ARE YOU BRIDGING
THE SKILLS GAP?