Talent Scout™: Employers Can Pick From Vetted Talent on Upwork

Upwork, the contingent workforce marketplace, launched a new recruiting solution that links companies with pre-vetted talent. The workers have been selected from Upwork’s platform by a group of company recruiters.

The product’s called Talent Scout, and Upwork called it “an additional way to access and engage talent.” It’s currently available in the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, and Israel.

“[We’ve] heard from companies that their different business and service needs may necessitate different ways of partnering with remote freelancers,” said Upwork Chief Product and Experience Officer Sam Bright.

Less Than Agencies

Talent Scout’s pitch is about helping hiring managers get recruiting assistance without the cost of traditional staffing agencies. Upwork’s specialized recruiters help clients identify their needs and then search the platform for appropriate freelancers to compile a short list of workers who can start work immediately.

Upwork pre-checks freelancers for hard and soft skills in web, mobile and software development, design and creativity, as well as sales and marketing. Through a customized dashboard, clients can view profiles to comment, select or pass on the presented talent.

For independent contractors, Upwork said Talent Scout lets them “spend less time looking through jobs and more time doing the work they love.” Freelancers have their own dashboard, through which they can navigate skills certification and vetting, and view interview requests.

Last year, Upwork enhanced its enterprise offerings to help large employers find and hire contingent workers. The platform was designed to simplify the tasks involved with centrally managing a remote workforce strategy while accessing talent. The company said Upwork Enterprise allowed direct sourcing from a wide-ranging pool of knowledge workers and agencies, which would enable customers to scale their workforce according to business needs.

Earlier this month, Upwork said its revenue increased 36.6% year over year while gross service volume increased.  The company forecast revenue of between $119 million to $121 million during the second quarter, an increase of between 36.0% and 38.2%.