Does Upwork pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Upwork employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Upwork. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Upwork?

60% of Upwork employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Upwork 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.5 for culture and values and 3.5 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Upwork?

Software Engineer (23) , Senior Software Engineer (20) , Account Manager (19) , Freelancer (19) , Account Executive (16) , Enterprise Account Executive (15) , Software Developer (12) , Enterprise Account Manager (11) , Product Manager (11) , Business Development Representative (BDR) (10) , Data Analyst (10) , Virtual Assistant (10) , Manager (9) , Customer Service Representative (8) , Director (8)

What are the pros of working at Upwork according to real employee reviews?

"Most people are great (there are some truly brilliant people here)" ((in 58 reviews)); "Amazing culture and product that truly benefits the customer" ((in 36 reviews)); "Great benefits and rewards." ((in 29 reviews)); "work from home, flexible program, diversity," ((in 24 reviews)); "Great team and dynamic was very supportive." ((in 23 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Upwork according to real employee reviews?

"Constant layoffs" ((in 35 reviews)); "bad leadership and a lot of feedback" ((in 32 reviews)); "Bad management and general disorganization" ((in 18 reviews)); "My direct manager had never even sold in her life." ((in 9 reviews)); "No bonuses and paid time offs" ((in 7 reviews))

What are employees saying about Upwork layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Upwork layoffs and their outlook for job security at Upwork in 2026.

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Upwork

Upwork reviews

3.8

60% would recommend to a friend

(631 total reviews)

Hayden Brown

57% approve of CEO

44% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.1

Work/Life balance

3.9

Diversity & inclusion

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Culture & values

3.5

Career opportunities

3.2

Senior management

Upwork has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 631 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Upwork employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Informationstechnologie industry (3.9 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

631 reviews

2.0

Feb 25, 2020

Great platform concept, poorly run

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits including unlimited paid time off, opportunity to work remotely

Cons

Departments do not work together cohesively, leadership cherry picks from the glint surveys. Some managers are not leadership material, just micromanagers with a title

1.0

Feb 17, 2020

Growth within the company driven primarily by loyalty (vs merit)

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Upwork's mission (To create economic opportunities so people have better lives) was great if it followed properly! The work environment was nice before.

Cons

Middle-tier management layer in Chicago needs a complete revamp. Top people are leaving the company due to stifling/suffocating work environment. The mid-level managers in Sales and Finance are looking for yes persons. They are hiring and promoting people not based on merit but on loyalty. Healthy disagreements and logical discussions are shut down and counted against you.

1.0

Feb 11, 2020

Chicago office has no idea what they are doing

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

free breakfast and free lunch

Cons

the Chicago office has no direction, continue to not be able to deliver on promises, constantly change parameters, fire people left and right, and have quite a few spineless managers. all you have to do is take a look at upwork's stock price to understand what type of company it is. they do not care about their employees at all and are extremely two-faced.

Viewing 499 - 501 of 631 Reviews

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Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Great platform concept, poorly run

Growth within the company driven primarily by loyalty (vs merit)

Chicago office has no idea what they are doing

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