<s>
Upwork	B-Application
Global	O
Inc.	O
,	O
formerly	O
Elance-oDesk	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
American	O
freelancing	O
platform	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Santa	O
Clara	O
and	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
formed	O
in	O
2013	O
as	O
Elance-oDesk	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
merger	O
of	O
Elance	B-Application
Inc	O
.	O
and	O
oDesk	B-Application
Corp	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
merged	O
company	O
subsequently	O
rebranded	O
to	O
Upwork	B-Application
in	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
had	O
over	O
twelve	O
million	O
registered	O
freelancers	O
and	O
five	O
million	O
registered	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2022	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
was	O
named	O
on	O
Time	O
's	O
list	O
of	O
TIME100	O
Most	O
Influential	O
Companies	O
of	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Elance	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1998	O
by	O
MIT	O
graduate	O
Beerud	O
Sheth	O
and	O
Wall	O
Street	O
veteran	O
Srini	O
Anumolu	O
in	O
a	O
two-bedroom	O
apartment	O
in	O
Jersey	O
City	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Elance	B-Application
's	O
first	O
product	O
was	O
the	O
Elance	B-Application
Small	O
Business	O
Marketplace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
oDesk	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
2003	O
by	O
two	O
friends	O
,	O
Odysseas	O
Tsatalos	O
and	O
Stratis	O
Karamanlakis	O
,	O
who	O
wanted	O
to	O
work	O
together	O
even	O
though	O
one	O
of	O
them	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
U.S.	O
and	O
the	O
other	O
was	O
in	O
Greece	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
created	O
as	O
a	O
staffing	O
firm	O
,	O
oDesk	B-Application
was	O
eventually	O
built	O
into	O
an	O
online	O
marketplace	O
that	O
allowed	O
registered	O
users	O
to	O
find	O
,	O
hire	O
,	O
and	O
collaborate	O
with	O
remote	O
workers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Elance	B-Application
and	O
oDesk	B-Application
announced	O
their	O
merger	O
on	O
December	O
18	O
,	O
2013	O
to	O
create	O
Elance-oDesk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
new	O
company	O
was	O
rebranded	O
as	O
Upwork	B-Application
,	O
which	O
coincided	O
with	O
an	O
upgrade	O
of	O
the	O
oDesk	B-Application
platform	O
under	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newly	O
named	O
Upwork	B-Application
also	O
planned	O
to	O
phase	O
out	O
the	O
Elance	B-Application
platform	O
within	O
a	O
couple	O
of	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Upwork	B-Application
platform	O
has	O
experienced	O
brief	O
outages	O
,	O
with	O
one	O
in	O
September	O
2015	O
leading	O
to	O
an	O
apology	O
from	O
then-CEO	O
Stephane	B-Application
Kasriel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
7	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
started	O
suspending	O
operations	O
for	O
freelancers	O
and	O
clients	O
in	O
Russia	O
and	O
Belarus	O
as	O
a	O
sanction	O
following	O
Russia	O
's	O
invasion	O
of	O
Ukraine	O
in	O
February	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upwork	B-Application
allows	O
clients	O
to	O
interview	O
,	O
hire	O
and	O
work	O
with	O
freelancers	O
and	O
freelance	O
agencies	O
through	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Upwork	B-Application
platform	O
includes	O
a	O
real-time	O
chat	O
feature	O
that	O
either	O
clients	O
or	O
freelancers	O
can	O
use	O
to	O
message	O
prospects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Upwork	B-Application
time	O
tracking	O
application	O
records	O
the	O
freelancer	O
's	O
keystrokes	O
and	O
mouse	O
movements	O
and	O
takes	O
screenshots	O
to	O
be	O
submitted	O
to	O
their	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2017	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
reported	O
14	O
million	O
users	O
in	O
180	O
countries	O
with	O
$1	O
billion	O
USD	O
in	O
annual	O
freelancer	O
billings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
purged	O
1.8	O
million	O
freelancers	O
,	O
possibly	O
due	O
to	O
changes	O
made	O
under	O
the	O
leadership	O
of	O
new	O
CEO	B-Application
Hayden	O
Brown	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2019	O
call	O
with	O
investors	O
,	O
Brown	O
said	O
that	O
Upwork	B-Application
would	O
be	O
focusing	O
more	O
on	O
serving	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
Fortune	O
500	O
companies	O
rather	O
than	O
smaller	O
companies	O
just	O
looking	O
for	O
a	O
quick	O
job	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
gig	O
worker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
call	O
,	O
Brown	O
also	O
spoke	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
skill	O
gap	O
"	O
between	O
what	O
companies	O
were	O
looking	O
for	O
on	O
the	O
Upwork	B-Application
platform	O
and	O
what	O
they	O
were	O
getting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upwork	B-Application
has	O
also	O
made	O
other	O
changes	O
under	O
Brown	O
's	O
leadership	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Brown	O
has	O
said	O
that	O
these	O
changes	O
were	O
made	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
freelancers	O
and	O
freelance	O
work	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
platform	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
also	O
led	O
to	O
increased	O
financial	O
gains	O
for	O
Upwork	B-Application
and	O
its	O
investors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2020	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
launched	O
a	O
new	O
feature	O
called	O
"	O
Project	O
Catalog	O
"	O
that	O
allows	O
freelancers	O
and	O
agencies	O
to	O
offer	O
pre-scoped	O
services	O
at	O
fixed	O
prices	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
Fiverr	O
marketplace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2021	O
,	O
Upwork	B-Application
released	O
a	O
report	O
claiming	O
that	O
up	O
to	O
25%	O
of	O
professionals	O
expect	O
to	O
permanently	O
work	O
remotely	O
.	O
</s>
