Upwork to Cut 24% of Staff in Restructuring, Citing Evolving 'Nature of Work'

By Elias Schisgall

Upwork is cutting nearly a quarter of its staff as part of a restructuring plan, citing a desire to build a more efficient and profitable operating model and the evolving "nature of work" as artificial-intelligence technology improves.

The company also cut its revenue guidance for the year. Shares tumbled 18% to $8.73 in after-hours trading on Thursday.

The freelancing platform said the layoffs will extend to roughly 24% of its staff, and that it expects to incur between $16 million to $23 million in restructuring charges, mostly recognized in the current second quarter.

"The nature of work continues to shift as AI advances, and we continue to build Upwork for where work is headed," Chief Executive Officer Hayden Brown said.

Upwork is the latest in a steady drumbeat of companies announcing plans to slash their workforces, driven in part by AI. Cloudflare, PayPal, Coinbase, and Freshworks all took similar steps this week.

The company on Thursday recorded a first-quarter profit of $31.5 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with a profit of $37.7 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, the company reported adjusted earnings of 35 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting 27 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $195.5 million, up from $192.7 million a year prior, despite what the company called a challenging demand environment. Analysts were expecting $195.9 million in revenue.

The company raised its full-year outlook for adjusted per-share earnings, projecting them between $1.50 and $1.55 a share, up from a range of $1.43 to $1.48.

But it cut its revenue outlook for the year, forecasting revenue between $760 million and $790 million. Upwork previously guided for revenue between $835 million and $850 million.

Analysts are expecting adjusted earnings of $1.44 a share on revenue of $841.9 million.

For the current second quarter, the company is expected adjusted earnings between 35 cents and 37 cents a share, on revenue between $187 million and $193 million.

Analysts are expecting 33 cents a share in adjusted earnings on $204 million in revenue for the quarter.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2026 17:53 ET (21:53 GMT)

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Upwork to Cut 24% of Staff in Restructuring, Citing Evolving 'Nature of Work'

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