Upwork Introduces Solution for Full-time Hiring

Upwork, one of the most popular freelance platforms in the world, is expanding into full-time hiring for the first time.

Introduced earlier this year, this new feature will enable companies of all sizes to recruit, hire, onboard, and pay talent across 180 countries and 10,000 skills without the challenges related to complex international employment laws for full-time global hiring.

Through this support, companies and professionals can test if they are a good fit before committing to a full-time contract. “We have mobilized Upwork’s long-standing expertise, experience and technology to further help businesses and skilled professionals build trusted, long-term working relationships,” Dave Bottoms, Upwork’s General Manager of Marketplace, shared in a press release.

Upwork’s debut into full-time hiring eliminates the risks associated with traditional full-time arrangements, providing customers with “the flexibility to choose the work arrangements that best fit their needs, and empower people on both sides of [our] work marketplace to thrive in today’s ever-changing world of work.”

The new full-time hiring features have already been widely accepted by businesses and professionals. Since the start of 2023, clients have posted 40,000+ contract-to-hire job listings on Upwork, and more than two million freelancers have expressed openness to contract-to-hire relationships on the platform.

Upwork’s new solution makes some advanced features like payroll, contract management tools, and compliance tools previously exclusive to Enterprise Suite clients available to all clients. Upwork also introduced advanced capabilities for Enterprise Suite clients, including customized onboarding workflows, advanced reporting, and systems integrations. Businesses can use these features for professionals they find on Upwork or elsewhere.

Upwork data unveils that 93% of hiring managers “often or occasionally” turn freelancers into full-time employees. As many as 71% of managers cite freelancers’ quality of work as a top reason for offering full-time roles. For 41% of hiring managers, the top deciding factor is the ability to test the relationship before making someone a permanent addition to the team.