Upwork is moving beyond its freelance marketplace into enterprise contingent staffing through Lifted, a wholly owned subsidiary launched in August 2025. Acquisitions of workforce-management platform Bubty and contingent W-2 provider Ascen supplied capabilities for a broader offer that spans contractors, employment arrangements and workforce administration. Upwork reported that its first wave of enterprise customers migrated to Lifted’s new platform in June 2026, but the public figures do not yet show Lifted’s revenue, customer savings or competitive position.
What Upwork acquired—and what Lifted is
On August 6, 2025, Upwork announced it had acquired Bubty and agreed to acquire Ascen to expand its enterprise services beyond independent-contractor engagements. Upwork described Bubty as a platform for managing contingent workforce models and Ascen as a digitally native solution for contingent W-2 employment and compliance. These were capability purchases intended to help assemble a wider enterprise offering, not proof on their own that the combined service operates at scale. Upwork’s Q2 2025 results announcement provides the acquisition context.
On August 19, 2025, Upwork introduced Lifted as a wholly owned, enterprise-focused subsidiary. The company said Lifted would bring together talent sourcing, contracting, workforce management and payment for contingent work. Upwork CEO Hayden Brown said clients had asked for ways to engage talent across their full range of contingent workforce needs, beyond independent-contractor relationships. That is Upwork’s stated rationale, rather than an independently established account of buyer demand. The Lifted launch announcement sets out the company’s description.
How Lifted’s engagement models differ
Lifted’s stated scope covers several ways a business may engage workers or suppliers. The arrangement matters because it affects who employs or contracts with the worker, who handles administration, and how the work is structured.
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| Model | What it means in Lifted’s stated scope |
|---|---|
| Independent contractor | The business engages a worker as an independent contractor rather than as its employee. |
| Agent of record (AOR) | A service provider administers contractor engagements on a client’s behalf; the precise responsibilities depend on the arrangement. |
| Employer of record (EOR) | A third party employs a worker on the client’s behalf and handles employment-related administration in the applicable jurisdiction. |
| Staff augmentation | Workers supplement a client’s existing team or capacity. |
| Statement of work (SOW) | A defined project or set of deliverables is contracted as a work package, rather than treating the engagement simply as an individual role. |
Upwork also said Lifted can work with managed service providers (MSPs) and vendor management systems (VMS), which companies may use to oversee contingent labor suppliers and programs. That signals an intended fit with established enterprise procurement workflows; the launch announcement does not establish how broadly integrations are available or which systems are supported.
Why this extends Upwork’s business beyond a freelancer marketplace
Upwork’s public marketplace has historically centered on independent talent. Lifted targets organizations that need a wider set of contingent-work arrangements, including employment and administration as well as sourcing. In its 2025 Form 10-K, Upwork presents Marketplace and Lifted as distinct parts of its portfolio and describes its workforce solutions as streamlining sourcing, outreach, contracting and engagement management. It characterizes its direct-to-talent approach as an alternative to staffing firms, recruiters and agencies. Upwork’s 2025 Form 10-K provides the company’s portfolio description.
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The strategic bet is that a buyer may prefer one coordinated route for finding contingent talent and administering different types of engagement. The acquisitions address pieces of that proposition: workforce-management infrastructure from Bubty and W-2 employment and compliance capabilities from Ascen. Whether those pieces deliver a compelling integrated service for large employers is a separate question from whether Upwork has acquired the relevant capabilities.
What the early performance figures show—and do not show
In its August 10, 2026 Q2 results, Upwork said the first wave of enterprise customers migrated to Lifted’s new platform at the end of June. It also reported that Q2 2026 EOR gross services volume (GSV) within Enterprise Solutions grew 29% year over year. These are company-reported rollout and activity indicators; EOR GSV is not the same as Lifted revenue or profit. Upwork’s Q2 2026 results contain the figures.
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How to assess Upwork’s market-size claim
Upwork has cited a $650 billion estimated market size for 2028, based on a market study commissioned by the company and cited at its November 2025 Investor Day. The study drew on sources including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, World Bank and International Labour Organization. This is Upwork’s estimate of a market opportunity—not Lifted revenue, an independently audited total or a forecast of the share Upwork can capture. Upwork’s Investor Day announcement identifies the estimate and its source.
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What enterprise buyers should compare
Lifted is positioned to compete for enterprise contingent-work programs, but the available disclosures do not provide a substantiated head-to-head comparison with staffing firms or other platforms. A buyer evaluating it should focus on the requirements of the specific workforce program:
- Engagement model: Determine whether the need is for contractor sourcing, AOR or EOR administration, staff augmentation, project-based SOW work, or a combination.
- Classification and compliance: Confirm which party employs or contracts with the worker and which party handles relevant obligations in each jurisdiction.
- Geographic coverage: Ask for supported locations and applicable service terms. Upwork’s portfolio-wide presence in more than 180 countries does not establish Lifted’s own coverage.
- Existing systems: Verify specific integrations with the organization’s MSP, VMS and procurement processes instead of relying only on the general integration claim.
- Sourcing and administration: Clarify how the service divides responsibilities for finding talent, onboarding, workforce management and payments.
- Commercial outcomes: Request pricing and evidence relevant to the buyer’s program, such as service levels, retention, time to fill, compliance processes and total cost. The cited public disclosures do not provide Lifted customer pricing or independently verified savings.
Is Upwork competing with staffing agencies?
Yes, in the broad strategic sense: Upwork says its workforce solutions are an alternative to traditional staffing firms, recruiters and agencies, and Lifted is designed for enterprise contingent staffing needs. But its announcements and reported metrics do not establish that Lifted has displaced incumbents, won a particular share of the market or proven superior outcomes. The clearest conclusion is that Upwork is building a broader enterprise workforce offer; how competitive it becomes will depend on execution and customer results that are not established by the public figures cited here.
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