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?

59% of Upwork employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Upwork 4.0 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 (24) , Freelancer (20) , Senior Software Engineer (20) , Account Manager (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 54 reviews)); "Great benefits and rewards." ((in 33 reviews)); "Flexible working hours and work from home." ((in 26 reviews)); "Pay is good and nice" ((in 26 reviews)); "Great team and dynamic was very supportive." ((in 21 reviews))

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

"constant layoffs with 2 happen across 2 years." ((in 33 reviews)); "bad leadership and a lot of feedback" ((in 31 reviews)); "Bad management and general disorganization" ((in 18 reviews)); "My direct manager had never even sold in her life." ((in 10 reviews)); "Salaries are obscure and no bonus for overseas employees compared to Full time employees" ((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.

What are the top reviewed Upwork locations?

Madrid , Barcelona , Almería , Valencia

Upwork reviews

3.8

59% would recommend to a friend

(635 total reviews)

Hayden Brown

53% approve of CEO

42% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (635 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Upwork has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 635 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 Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

635 reviews

2.0

Apr 8, 2016

Slow Execution

Manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone really is empowered by the mission that work is no longer a place

Cons

Micromanagement and many unnecessary reviews with the CEO and multiple players of management. The CEO is too involved in the day to day minutiae and not with the vision and strategy. Also, they replaced their CFO and CAO with the General counsel, who has no finance/IPO Experience.

Upwork Response

10y

Thanks for taking time to provide feedback. I'd love to hear more feedback and welcome suggestions for how to improve. Please swing by sometime so we can discuss.

2.0

Nov 20, 2015

Senior Management Wake-up

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Free lunches everyday. I like the work from home Wednesdays, although most employees simply take this as a day off.

Cons

Senior management tells the employees that they are working towards an IPO. However, the CEO & CFO have no IPO experience. The CFO is our General Counsel and has no finance experience. This company is going to be sold.

1.0

Aug 27, 2015

Horrible for any Engineer

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

good for professional and non technical managers

Cons

no innovation, slow, opposite of meritocracy, applauds failure while punishing success

Viewing 70 - 72 of 635 Reviews

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Slow Execution

Senior Management Wake-up

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