262億美元收購領英後 微軟與零工經濟先驅Upwork合作

日前，微軟宣布和全球最大的自由職業者工作平台Upwork合作開發新工具，幫助企業雇主管理合作、雇傭的自由職業者。《美國先驅報》稱，兩家公司最近的合作——幫助企業在合約期內暫時訪問企業微軟Office應用程式的工具——將是全面收購的第一步。

Upwork首席執行官史蒂芬·卡斯瑞爾

新軟體助力公司

管理自由職業者

這款新軟體旨在幫助公司在有限的時間內，讓需要使用某些微軟辦公相關工具(比如workplace chat app)的合作自由職業者更容易地得到幫助。

當項目結束時，新軟體會自動切斷自由職業者對合作雇主微軟相關產品(包括任何相關數據)的訪問。以往，雇主公司必須手動阻止自由職業者進入，這可是一個耗時的麻煩。

Upwork首席執行官史蒂芬·卡斯瑞爾希望，這款名為Microsoft 365自由職業者工具包的新免費產品最終將吸引更多雇主客戶使用包括自由職業者篩選服務在內的Upwork付費產品。

由於微軟擁有龐大的企業客戶名單，Upwork與微軟合作開發了這些新工具，從而給了Upwork一個從企業客戶那裡獲得更多業務的機會。卡斯裡爾介紹，許多自由職業者使用Upwork平台與雇主公司聯繫，從事涉及微軟技術的項目，比如開發人員使用微軟的Sharepoint軟體構建企業內部網。他說，有了這些新工具，公司可以更容易地找到專門從事微軟相關項目的自由職業者，並能更快地聘用他們。

有消息稱微軟計劃

將Upwork納入公司

此外，據《美國先驅報》(USA Herald)報導，有消息稱，微軟已經相中Upwork，並計劃很快將其納入公司大家庭。

雖然職業社交平台領英在大公司、全職員工和人力資源部門中很受歡迎，但Upwork是一個非常不同的平台。2013年成立以來，Upwork旨在將個體自由職業者與尋求短期項目員工的企業和個人聯繫起來。目前，該平台已經擁有超過1200萬的注冊用戶。

《美國先驅報》稱，兩家公司最近的合作——幫助企業在合約期內暫時訪問企業微軟Office應用程式的工具——將是全面收購的第一步。

今年6月，微軟宣布以262億美元收購領英，這筆微軟史上最大收購也意味著微軟邁出了踏入網絡社交領域的一大步。美國媒體分析，微軟對社交平台企業領域的控制力越來越強，這無疑給人一種微軟將采取行動的感覺。和領英相比，Upwork有更明顯的直接收入流：通常根據項目價值向雇主企業收取20%的費用、向自由職業者方收取10%。除此之外，如果雇主企業想要更多的自由職業者使用微軟軟體和Outlook，那麽這將是一個直接吸引他們的好機會。

對此傳言，Upwork首席執行官卡斯瑞爾沒有明確回應。但他表示，Upwork選擇與微軟進行合作，且不打算與谷歌或Slack等微軟競爭對手達成類似交易。

Microsoft is reportedly eyeing up freelance hub Upwork

Microsoft and enterprise software company Upwork have partnered on new tools to help companies manage freelance workers.

The new software is intended to help companies more easily give temporary workers who need to access certain Microsoft Office-related tools，like the Teams workplace chat app，for limited amounts of time.

When projects end， the new software automatically cuts freelancers’ access to Microsoft-related products including any associated data.Typically，companies must manually block freelancers from access，which can be a time-consuming hassle.

Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel hopes that the new free product，called Microsoft 365 Freelance Toolkit，will eventually attract more customers to Upwork’s paid products that include freelance screening services.

Upwork teamed with Microsoft on the new tools because of Microsoft’s huge list of corporate customers，thereby giving Upwork an opportunity to get more business from them. Kasriel said that many freelancers who use Upwork to connect with companies work on projects that involve Microsoft technology， like a developer who builds corporate intranets using Microsoft’s Sharepoint software.

With the new tools， companies can more easily search for freelancers who specialize in Microsoft-related projects and hire them more quickly， he said.

According to the USA Herald， sources indicate that Microsoft is sniffing around Upwork， and has plans to make it part of the company’s family soon.

While LinkedIn is popular among large companies，full-time employees and HR departments looking to tempt said full-time employees elsewhere，Upwork is a very different beast. A hub for freelancers， formed in 2013 with the merging of oDesk and Elance (sadly the didn’t go for “Elanceodesk”)， the site aims to connect self-employed types with businesses and individuals looking to staff short-term projects. It has more than 12 million registered users.

USA Herald is incredibly vague about the nature of its sources， not even revealing which side of the potential transaction they sit on. The report states that a recent collaboration between the two companies - tools to help businesses provide temporary access to Enterprise Microsoft Office apps for the duration of a contract - was the first step on the road to a full acquisition.

Upwork has a more obvious direct revenue stream with a consistent flow of transactions between employers and temporary employees and charges the former between ten and 20 per cent of the value of a given project.

Kasriel said that Upwork doesn’t plan similar deals with Microsoft competitors like Google’s G Suite workplace software or Slack.“Right now that is not the plan，”Kasriel said.

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