Upwork's AI Engine

What's inside:

• ¾ of a BILLION dollars in 2024

• Throw a shrimp on the barbie, but not past 5pm

• AI, can I get my job back?

The Markets

¾ of a BILLION dollars in 2024

That’s the 2024 revenue target that Upwork, the world’s largest work marketplace that connects businesses with independent talent from across the globe, reported on February 14th during their 2023 earnings call.

Upwork provides a full suite of talent and payment solutions to businesses globally who are looking to hire top talent.

Here’s what they reported on February 14th for 2023 growth:

• Revenue grew 11% year-over-year to $689.1 million for full year 2023

• Active clients grew 5% year-over-year to 851,000

• EPS was $0.06 in 2023

Here’s the guidance they provided for 2024:

• Revenue growth to ~$780 million

• EPS of $0.19

How will Upwork get there?

Here’s the answer: AI

Upwork acquired AI company Headroom in November 2023 to increase it’s exposure and AI capabilities. Headroom’s Co-founder and CEO, Andrew Rabinovich was brought on to lead AI initiatives at Upwork as Upwork’s VP, Head of AI & Machine Learning.

Upwork CEO, Hayden Brown, is constantly talking about AI and most recently stated Upwork’s mission as the desire to be the “…preeminent destination for #AI-related talent and work”.

And, oh yeah, this whole article was written by ChatGPT. 😮 (just kidding 😉)

Around the world

Throw a shrimp on the barbie, but not past 5pm

Tired of your manager pinging you at 7 pm while you're putting your kids to sleep?

So were the Australians...

New legislation was just passed in Australia granting Australians the 'right to disconnect' and the right to refuse contact from their employer after their working hours. Here’s what you need to know:

• An employer must not contact an employee outside of the employee’s hours of work

• An employee is not required to monitor, read or respond to emails, telephone calls or any other kind of communication from an employer outside of the employee’s hours of work

Australia is not the first country to pass such a law and certainly won't be the last.

It comes down to this: Assign employees reasonable amounts of work to get done in a reasonable amount of time. There are 24 hours in a day. Full time employees are expected to work 8 of those hours in most circumstances. If the work simply can't be done in 8 hours, reassess deadlines and priorities and reassign work across other team members.

Your employees will be happier and more productive if they don't feel like they are drowning in work and/or being pinged at all hours of the day and night.

AI

AI, can I get my job back?

February 10, 2024 marked the start of Lunar New Year. This year is known as The Year of the Wood Dragon and according to an India Times article from earlier this month, 2024 will be a “…year marked by growth, vitality, and the blossoming of wisdom.”

If I had to describe AI using only 3 words, growth, vitality, and wisdom would certainly be in my top 10.

If I had a dollar every time a company talked about AI, releases a new product that leverages AI, or uses AI internally, I’d be able to afford to upgrade my Chat GPT to GPT-4.

Either way, here are a couple of companies changing the way HR leaders and hiring managers leverage AI in their day to day:

• Paradox.ai helps companies recruit talent using conversational AI tools designed to meet a new generation of talent where they’re at. Paradox integrates with SuccessFactors, Workday, Indeed, and many others make it as easy as possible for hiring managers and candidates alike.

• 11x.ai helps go to market teams by offering fully autonomous digital workers from SDRs to Customer Success Managers and Sales Ops pros. 11x is literally replacing humans with AI and delivering the same results for a fraction of the cost.

Whether you’re hiring people using AI or literally hiring AI, you can be certain your own company will start talking about AI in the workplace and about AI within HR. Be ready to embrace it because AI is here to stay.

Strategic quick hits

• Mickey Mouse and Cinderella move to unionize (AP)

• Return to office: Employee v Employer (Forbes)

• Stone Point Capital looks to close Hireright deal (Businesswire)