Upwork reported its Business Plus product grew 174% year over year in the most recent quarter, the fastest expansion for any product in the company's history, and raised its full-year gross services volume growth target to 25% amid an accelerating push into AI-powered hiring tools.
Shares of Upwork (UPWK) were down 58% year to date Wednesday following the presentation at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026, trading near $8.79 with a P/E ratio of 10.8.
CEO Hayden Brown, who has spent 15 years at the company, outlined how Business Plus has become a significant contributor to platform economics. Accounts using the product now represent 6.6% of total gross services volume, surpassing the company's prior full-year target of 5%. Customers on Business Plus spend 2.5 times more than standard marketplace clients, and gross services volume per client reached a record above $5,000 in the latest quarter. The product carries a 10% take rate on the client side versus 5% for the basic marketplace offering.
Business Plus is geared toward larger small and midsize businesses and includes AI recruitment tools such as automated interviews and Uma, Upwork's AI agent for shortlisting and interview coordination. The tier also offers Net 30 payment terms and a collaborative "multiplayer mode" for team-based hiring workflows.
Upwork launched Model Context Protocol integration in August 2026, allowing AI environments including Claude and ChatGPT to invoke Upwork services directly. The move follows the acquisition of Objective AI, which feeds into the platform's growing AI capabilities. Brown noted that the company's AI strategy consulting business grew more than 50% year over year in the latest quarter.
The enterprise segment, rebranded as Lifted after acquisitions and relaunched in 2024, provides independent contractor placements, staff augmentation, employer-of-record and agent-of-record arrangements, managed services, and statement-of-work engagements. One multinational customer recently committed north of $100 million annually in contingent work through Lifted. Brown estimated the enterprise contingent labor market at roughly $650 billion.
Upwork serves a global talent pool of 18 million professionals, including more than 300,000 AI practitioners, across over 130 work categories and 10,000 skills, posting approximately 3 million jobs annually.
On capital allocation, Upwork completed $110 million in share buybacks during the year, with $254 million remaining under board authorization. The company executed a 24% reduction in force earlier in 2026. Gross profit margins stood at 77% with a current ratio of 1.42.
