Upwork: Difference between revisions

We view the impending competition from LinkedIn as the greatest threat to Upwork's success. LinkedIn is a marketplace that connects job seekers with employers. It has over 875 million members in more than 200 countries<ref>https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/10/26/upwork-upwk-q3-2022-earnings-call-transcript/</ref>. In 2016, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn ProFinder, a free service that enabled freelancers to connect with clients from their locality. The service only allowed freelancers to send up to 10 proposals for free. After that, one needed a LinkedIn Pro subscription which costs around $60, to send more proposals for free. The other key disadvantage of the LinkedIn ProFinder is that it was one-way. That is, freelancers could not send proposals for which they have not received invitations. Also, the freelancer could not review a client<ref>https://aboundsocial.com/linkedin-profinder-hiring-landing-gigs-more/</ref>. In March 2021, LinkedIn upgraded it to LinkedIn Service Marketplace. The new marketplace enabled freelancers to bid for proposals outside their locality. During the launch, LinkedIn said that the marketplace started with 250 job categories but would later expand to 500 job categories. Six months after its launch, 2 million providers had joined the marketplace, proving it is rapidly growing<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/announcing-launch-linkedin-services-marketplace-matt-faustman/</ref>. We believe if LinkedIn introduces more features common to marketplaces like Upwork, such as payment features, hourly tracker, the ability for freelancers to bid for jobs without relying on invites, etc., LinkedIn Service Marketplace will eat Upwork's market share.

== Why Invest in Upwork? ==