*By Christian Smith*
Freelancing is no longer just for young, tech-savvy millennials who want more personal freedom, said Stephane Kasriel, the CEO of newly-public freelancing platform Upwork.
"We are seeing definitely a shift of the more traditional professional verticals ー the consultants, the accounts, the recruiters, and the lawyers who are also moving online because they get access to more interesting opportunities than what they get in their local job market," Kasriel said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar.
Upwork went public on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. Shares ($UPWK) soared in their market debut, closing up more than 40 percent from their IPO price of $15 per share.
Freelancers can use Upwork's portal to bid for contracts on projects posted by thousands of potential employers. Industries on the platform range from accounting to web design. The company charges users a fee based on the amount he or she has charged a client.
Upwork estimates that the remote work industry ー which is mostly freelance ー is currently worth $560 billion, and the search for that work is largely not happening through online platforms. But the industry will continue to grow quickly, thanks to changing demographics in the workforce, Kasriel said.
"Over 50 percent of the U.S. workforce will be doing some amount of freelancing by 2027," he added. A lot of that will happen as Baby Boomers, the generation least likely to freelance, retire.
Upwork is already seeing the fruits of the shifting labor market, and Kasriel said the company adds 10,000 new users daily.
The company generated $202.6 million in revenue in 2017, up from $164.4 million the year before. Over that period, Upwork said it facilitated 2 million projects between approximately 375,000 freelancers and 475,000 clients.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/upwork-shares-soar-after-nasdaq-ipo).
A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
A steep budget deficit caused by plummeting tax revenues and escalating school voucher costs will be in focus Monday as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature return for a new session at the state Capitol.
The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon. The private lander from Astrobotic Technology blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, catching a ride on United Launch Alliance's brand new rocket Vulcan.
Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oil fell last year from record highs in 2022, when Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors helped worsen hunger worldwide, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
Wall Street is drifting higher after reports showed the job market remains solid, but key parts of the economy still don’t look like they’re overheating.
The Biden administration is docking more than $2 million in payments to student loan servicers that failed to send billing statements on time after the end of a pandemic payment freeze.
The nation’s employers added a robust 216,000 jobs last month, the latest sign that the American job market remains resilient even in the face of sharply higher interest rates.
A U.S. labor agency has accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing employees who penned an open letter critical of CEO Elon Musk and creating an impression that worker activities were under surveillance by the rocket ship company.
