Upwork Employee Reviews
Out of 165 Upwork employee reviews, 72% were positive. The remaining 28% were constructive reviews with the goal of helping Upwork improve their work culture. The Admin team, with 50% positive reviews, reports the best experience at Upwork compared to all other departments at the company.
What does the leadership team need to get better at?
Responding to freelancers with problems.
Minimize the chaos around the recent product org change. Way too many VPs are just dead weight. Promote skilled people who do the work, not the ones who present the work to you. Invest more in career growth and keep the standards uniform.
Spend more time being candid about what doesn't work and fix consistent problems. Spend more time building cohesive employee teams instead of outsourcing. Spend more money on fewer freelancers of high quality rather than the alternative. Hold managers and directors+ accountable. Less talk, more walk
Review from Operations Dept
Free connects for the workers.
Respecting the workers, not just the employers. It is too expensive to apply for jobs anymore and there is still no guarantee anyone will hire when you put out an application.
Review from Design Dept
Why do you feel undervalued and what would make you feel better about your compensation?
There is no bonus, nor increase in salary.
Review from Admin Dept
Equity levels feel generally lower for tenured employees. When we make offers to hire candidates, I see the new hires reporting to me get more equity than what I received. Refreshers are also generally lower than expected for high performers.
Base salary should be higher. Equity package is fine I guess. Reward people with cash instead of gift cards. There is little incentive to go above and beyond when people are paid the same/more for doing less work. Company is bloated, should trim the fat and pay high-quality employees more money.
Review from Operations Dept
Free connects for the workers.
A stock option package, or a better way to guarantee some work every month.
Review from Design Dept
What do your coworkers need to improve and how could you work together better?
Most ICs and some managers are world-class and a joy to work with. 90% of managers are yes-people who will never say no to anything leadership asks for. Meetings are incredibly stressful because IC managers will throw their ICs under the bus to deflect responsibility for issues from themselves.
I work alone no coworkers
I don't have a "team" as a freelancer
Crab mentality, nepotism, not so fair
Review from Customer Support Dept
We could use more interaction to be honest.
What needs to change to make the company culture better?
Morale needs to be boosted by increased earnings.
Review from Admin Dept
It's a freelance at-home gig so the environment is as you make it
The open office concept is debilitating to getting actual work done, meetings are constant, long and ineffective.
What would you improve about your company's interview process?
Free connects for the workers
There is no interview process.
Review from Admin Dept
Instead of charging people to apply, just screen your candidates more effectively.
Review from Design Dept
Too many interviews, focus questions better, have a group session when discussing candidates instead of filling out long forms that only HR cares about.
What's going wrong and how can it be improved?
Free connects for the workers
Compensation is not negotiable or enough.
Review from Admin Dept
What would you most like to see improved at your company?
Investing in tools for success as we scale for growth