Upwork Achieves and Commits to Carbon Neutrality
New carbon emissions report details success of distributed workforce model in reducing emissions contributing to global climate change
The report provides a clear picture of how Upwork’s business model of enabling remote work positively impacts the environment. Upwork’s own distributed approach to its workforce—including its pre-pandemic embrace of a hybrid model of employees and independent talent working from 800 cities worldwide—was an outsized contributor to its achieving carbon neutrality. For years Upwork has empowered team members to work remotely, which in 2019 reduced travel in a personal vehicle by over one million miles. That same year, 73% of Upwork’s workforce had no commute time at all. In 2020, the company adopted a fully remote-first work model, through which working remotely will be the default for nearly every team member moving forward, avoiding future greenhouse gas emissions.
Other key factors that contributed to Upwork’s reduced carbon footprint include its participation in renewable energy programs to power specific offices, and its use of
“At Upwork, it is our belief that being a successful business is not enough, we must also be an accountable one,” said
As the work marketplace pioneer and an early accelerator of the global shift to remote work, Upwork builds tools to help businesses and independent professionals connect and unlock their true potential.
“The Upwork marketplace enables businesses of all sizes—including our own—to build deep relationships with independent talent across geographic distances without requiring frequent commutes or in-person meetings,” said Brown. “We hope more businesses consider the environmental benefits as yet another advantage of remote work.”
The Upwork 2019 Carbon Emissions Report can be found in full here.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s largest work marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with independent talent around the globe. We serve everyone from one-person startups to 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and freelancers to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201217005199/en/
press@upwork.com
Source: Upwork