Upwork Launches Academy and Bolsters Community Offerings to Support Independent Talent

New interactive learning hub to provide career tips, upskilling opportunities, and other educational resources

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Upwork (Nasdaq: UPWK), the world’s work marketplace, today launched Upwork Academy, a learning hub for professionals looking to build their business on Upwork, in addition to releasing a wide-ranging set of updates, features, and resources for its Upwork Community.

Skilled professionals across the globe turn to Upwork as they reevaluate their priorities, pursue professional and personal growth, and explore new ways of working. Upwork’s Community is the ultimate hub for news, insights, training, and trends around careers and work where people can connect, learn, and grow, and have a more engaging Upwork experience.

“Upwork is a unique tool and opportunity to each person who uses it, and the new offerings in Community are built to meet those unique needs: education, discussion, thought leadership and so much more,” said Francis Murphy, vice president of community at Upwork. “Our Community was positioned as a support channel for a long time. While we’re still here to help, we now offer much more by way of content, connection and community-building.”

“I have been on Upwork for over six years and it’s changed my life by providing me with the freedom to leave a difficult personal situation and avoid working a 9-to-5 job so I would have the flexibility to support my three kids on my own,” said Jennifer Lester, a copywriting expert and leader of Upwork’s Women’s Community Group. “Upwork’s Community, in particular, has helped my business grow while allowing me to engage with and learn from other entrepreneurial women like me who have faced similar challenges.”

User feedback has directly impacted updates to Community. For example, an audit earlier this year found members were interested in additional resources related to finding work and job matching, getting started on Upwork, and coaching. Feedback has directly impacted multiple new solutions and countless Community features Upwork delivered in the first half of 2022, with many more to come, including:

Upwork Academy

• Today’s launch of Upwork Academy, an interactive learning hub for all Upwork users looking to build their businesses, including the release of 11 on-demand courses with topics ranging from “Creating Your Profile” to “Submitting Proposals.”
• Introduction of ​​Academy Coaching cohorts to help talent succeed on Upwork. Academy has been piloting cohorts this quarter with expert coaching teams involving social impact partners Gaza Sky Geeks and CatipillHERS.
• Creation of a new home for Upwork Skills Certifications, where talent will be able to learn about available skills assessments, access test preparation materials, and opt in for web, mobile, software development (WMSD) and design & creative (D&C) certifications.

Community Platform and Content

• Rollout of a complete redesign of Upwork Community including a new homepage, updates to forums, and features aimed at increasing functionality and scalability.
• Launch of the Career Path Database by the end of the quarter, a collection of personal stories that share the path people took to get to where they are in their careers featuring different routes (freelance, full-time, solopreneur, etc.). The stories will be shared in various formats like video, photo, and audio and include complementary worksheets and guides to help users reach their goals.

Community Groups and Events

• Availability of 20+ Community Groups – collaborative and celebratory places for the Community to connect, learn, and grow across themes like identity, industry, interest, and impact. New groups are launching monthly and provide members a sense of belonging and further opportunities to uplevel, including those in rapidly scaling location-based groups. Current country groups include: USA, Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya, Egypt, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Germany with many more country groups coming throughout 2022. Several groups saw hundreds or thousands of members join within the first few days of launch.
• Bolstering of Community Events, including:
  • Adoption of a new event hosting platform to enhance event offerings and turn events into a one-stop shop for content from upcoming, live, and past Community events.
  • Launch of a brand new Community Event series “Community Hours,” as well as product events, interactive workshops, and Expert Talks with guest speakers.
  • Restart of localized events for talent in Ukraine with an “Upwork LIVE Support for Talent in Ukraine” event, and hosting in-language events with geo-custom content for five international markets during the second quarter.
  • Enablement of user-generated events within Community Groups.

To celebrate the release of Academy, Upwork will host a virtual event on June 7 at 9:00 a.m. PDT. Join us as our team walks through the new on-demand resource for talent and discusses the improved Community experience for independent professionals.

Connect with skilled, global, and in-demand talent on Upwork Community.

About Upwork

Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Contacts

Zach Moses

press@upwork.com