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 1% 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, 3.6 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) , Virtual Assistant (10) , Data Analyst (9) , 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 59 reviews)); "Great benefits including remote" ((in 35 reviews)); "Flexible working hours and work from home." ((in 27 reviews)); "Pay is good and nice" ((in 23 reviews)); "Great team and dynamic was very supportive." ((in 22 reviews))

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

"Frequent organizational changes and layoffs, impacting long" ((in 33 reviews)); "bad leadership and a lot of feedback" ((in 29 reviews)); "The management lacked the tools needed to support their teams." ((in 17 reviews)); "My direct manager had never even sold in her life." ((in 11 reviews)); "Salaries are obscure and no bonus for overseas employees compared to Full time employees" ((in 8 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

(630 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

Culture & values

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Career opportunities

3.3

Senior management

Upwork has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 630 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

630 reviews

3.0

Jun 8, 2023

Missing the mark

Enterprise account manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Upwork's mission is inspiring, and management within the Enterprise division truly cared about their teams.

Cons

Upwork's vision for how companies utilize the Enterprise platform is at direct odds with how clients want to utilize the platform. Upwork wants to be a strategic partner but companies view the platform as a nice to have in their talent acquisition toolkit. This mismatch of visions is one of the reasons for the layoff in May 2023, and the company overhiring AEs and AMs.

1.0

Jun 7, 2023

Complete unorganized and unfair mess

Sales

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Decent product if bought to market correctly

Cons

Following up on a few previous posts - Upwork miscalculated everyone's severance packages and sent out documents that they later amended. Now they are paying out different amounts to people who held the same exact role and had worked there for the same period of time, because of their internal mistakes. In short, if you want to be treated fairly and equally, and if you value compensation holistically, avoid Upwork

1.0

Mar 6, 2022

Needs Considerably Improvement

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Unlimited PTO Coworkers are great Insurance is ok.

Cons

Management doesn't have themselves together, ever. The constant changes to processes because no one can sit down to take a month to actually get things together makes it even more difficult. The micro-managing is OVER THE TOP. Undefined roles for management is also an issue. Pay rate for the work is laughable.

Upwork Response

Hi there, thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I am so disappointed to hear of your negative experience. We are always looking to improve our processes and guidance for managers, and your feedback is deeply appreciated here. - Upwork HR

Viewing 64 - 66 of 630 Reviews

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Missing the mark

Complete unorganized and unfair mess

Needs Considerably Improvement

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