Upwork Inc, the leading human- and AI-powered work marketplace, has introduced Lifted, a fully owned subsidiary designed to help large enterprises manage their entire contingent workforce with a single, integrated solution. The new business combines talent sourcing, contracting, and workforce management to streamline contingent hiring across all classifications and contract types, reinforcing Upwork’s role as a pioneer in the infrastructure of flexible work in the AI era.
“Enterprises have consistently asked us to provide a holistic approach to workforce solutions, extending beyond independent contractor engagements,” said Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork Inc. “With Lifted, we’ve removed the traditional trade-offs. Businesses no longer have to choose between compliance and flexibility, scale and speed, or digital convenience and enterprise-grade rigor. Lifted gives them a tech-enabled platform that blends all of these capabilities into one.”
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Ernesto Lamaina, General Manager of Lifted, added: “The complexity of today’s workforce models has far outpaced the infrastructure available to manage them. Lifted fills that gap. It’s not just another staffing provider or employer of record—it’s the only platform that gives enterprises the visibility, compliance, and control to manage contingent talent across countries, classifications, and procurement models at scale.”
Lifted supports compliance-heavy enterprise requirements through a contract- and country-agnostic system that centralizes the sourcing and management of independent contractors, employer of record (EOR), agent of record (AOR), staff augmentation, and statement of work (SOW) engagements. It integrates directly with vendor management systems (VMS) and managed service providers (MSPs), enabling businesses to unify contingent workforce operations within existing programs.
The subsidiary’s advanced capabilities are powered by Upwork’s acquisitions of Bubty and Ascen. Bubty brings modular workforce infrastructure that helps enterprises handle multiple engagement models, while Ascen delivers fast and compliant W-2 hiring worldwide. Combined with access to Upwork Marketplace’s extensive global talent pool—including more than 250,000 AI specialists—Lifted equips enterprises with the scale, compliance, and technology to efficiently manage extended workforces.
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