Upwork, the world’s work marketplace that connects businesses with independent talent, has officially unveiled an assortment of products, updates, and partnerships to transform how businesses and professionals hire and work, respectively. According to certain reports, the stated development kicks off by introducing an AI assistant called Uma, who is developed on top of industry-leading large language models (LLMs) and customized with Upwork platform data. Using that as its ultimate basis, Uma is able to educate users on hiring and matching process that are critical to businesses and freelancers discovering each other, getting started, and completing more high-quality work. This it does through features like Best Match, which is a feature specifically designed to help businesses leverage relevant insights like top proposals, client reviews, and skill alignment with the job post. Not just that, Uma also builds upon Upwork’s existing innovations and experiences including Job Post Generator, Proposal Tips, and Upwork Chat Pro. Anyway, aside from Uma, Upwork took this opportunity to further launch a set of new resources and updates, each one meticulously conceived to help freelancers stand out, get hired, and produce their best work.
Talk about the stated development on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the updated version of Upwork’s subscription service, Freelancer Plus. Moving forward, Freelance Plus should be able to provide users an exclusive access to Upwork Chat Pro, powered by Uma, an access which is going to go a long way to let these professionals improve efficiency and grow their businesses. Complimenting the same is an option to boost your profile, and therefore, give yourself more visibility to receive better job opportunities. Another new feature coming into play is called Portfolio. Currently in beta, Portfolio delivers at your disposal an upgraded experience in the context of uploading and organizing content so to display on profile pages. The idea behind making such a feature available is rooted in enabling freelancers to show work that represents their skill in the best possible manner. Markedly enough, this whole runner also saw Upwork opening up its coaching services for freelancers, helping them brush up on their skills and enhance eligibility for better work opportunities. To turn the value proposition even more attractive, there is a set of industry-leading third-party apps and offers like GoDaddy, Dropbox, Notion and iStock by Getty Images that one can access to deliver greater quality in their work.
Building upon those capabilities, Upwork is also looking to seamlessly guide businesses towards expert global talent. This involves instant consultations where the organization can meet with skilled freelancers and receive expert advice in no more than a few minutes. Alongside that, the recruitment giant also announced new entries for its Partner Experts Program, entries which saw the likes of GoDaddy, BigCommerce and Constant Contact joining as new partners. Thanks to the given program, these companies will now have the means to give their customers an uninterrupted access of trusted freelancers who are deeply experienced in working with their specific technologies.
Among other things, Upwork’s enterprise division confirmed its own share of advancements by introducing new vendor management system (VMS) and managed service provider (MSP) collaborations. Here, the company brought onboard Workday VNDLY and KellyOCG as partners, with KellyOCG becoming Upwork’s first MSP partner. To further enhance the value of these partnerships, Upwork also introduced two new enhancements for its Enterprise Suite. The stated enhancements include a new Contract audit Reporting functionality, along with an updated version of its classification solution, which now offers real-time status updates on classification determinations to help clients quickly and accurately classify worker relationships.
