Upwork will now allow employers to hire employees on its platform for “full-time,” non-contract work, the company announced Feb. 13 — reflecting ongoing moves by talent organizations to dig in and find talent even amid layoffs.
Upwork is traditionally known as a freelancer and contract-worker platform; notably, its new capabilities will allow employers to trial a contract-to-hire relationship. The platform has also expanded its payroll, compliance and contract management tools as well as enhanced enterprise capabilities for hiring at scale.
“Today, hiring full-time talent around the globe is an expensive proposition and a leap of faith for everyone involved,” Dave Bottoms, general manager of Marketplace at Upwork, said in a statement. “With this expansion into a full-time hiring solution for all our customers, we have mobilized Upwork’s longstanding expertise, experience and technology to further help businesses and skilled professionals build trusted, long-term working relationships.”
According to Upwork’s own study, 93% of hiring managers at least occasionally convert freelancers into employees, usually due to the quality of the freelancer’s work.
Other experts have corroborated this finding, however, especially as employers begin to freeze or slow hiring to ease expenses. One buzzword, “quiet hiring,” may involve the hiring of contractors into W2 positions, experts said. Contract work may allow employers to see if a contractor works well with a team before hiring them with considerably less risk than making a poor hire, experts noted.
