Upwork and sites that try to emulate its success see the U.S. economy as being part of a new workplace revolution. The world economy, by and large, moved from manual labor to industrial production in the 18th and 19th centuries. But in the 20th century, the forefront of the economy moved from production to white collar offices. And while neither of these segments are going away, there is a new segment that isn’t reserved only for artisans anymore.
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger are economists at Harvard University Princeton University, respectively. They say that 94% of the net job growth in the past ten years was in the category of alternative work. That includes temps, independent contractors, and freelancers. Freelancing is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy.
And whereas sites such as LinkedIn were the go-to site for professional networking, Upwork is now the much more popular location. It is the hub of all things employment related. Besides hiring for remote work, many companies that recruit on Upwork offer employment on a trial basis and then, hire their freelancer full-time in the traditional sense.
Benefits for Employers and Employees
The model of using work from home remote employees provides great benefits for employer and employee alike.
