Upwork Inc., the world's human and AI-powered work marketplace, today announced that its enterprise subsidiary Lifted, an Upwork Company, has acquired WorkMotion, a Berlin-based, tech-enabled Employer of Record (EOR). The acquisition expands direct employment options (Employer of Record and Staff Augmentation) for Lifted’s enterprise clients to more than 30 countries, in addition to Lifted’s Independent Contractor (IC) & Agent of Record (AOR) services that are offered in 180+ countries.
Lifted provides enterprise organizations with a purpose-built solution to rapidly source and compliantly engage all types of contingent talent globally. Its acquisition of Ascen last year enabled Lifted to offer a unique, digitally native, compliant employment offering in the U.S. and Canada, better serving customers while improving Lifted’s cost-to-serve through directly owned entities. With WorkMotion, Lifted extends these capabilities across 30+ international markets.
"We built Lifted to be the single partner enterprises can rely on for engaging all of their contingent talent — encompassing all talent locations and contract types,” said Hayden Brown, president and CEO of Upwork. “We’re already seeing strong customer adoption of Lifted’s direct employment/EOR offering in the U.S. and Canada, and offering a global solution for employment in every market has always been our goal. With the addition of WorkMotion, we are leapfrogging towards that future, dramatically accelerating our roadmap of delivering employment solutions to our customers on a global scale.”
Founded in Berlin in 2020, WorkMotion operates a tech-enabled Employer of Record platform built on a network of owned legal entities spanning more than 30 countries. For Lifted, EOR services outside the U.S. and Canada have historically been delivered through third-party partners. With WorkMotion, Lifted extends the digitally native, compliant employment capabilities established with Ascen across 30+ international markets, reducing reliance on third-party partners.
"Enterprises don’t want to manage a patchwork of vendors across every country they hire in, each with its own experience, service levels, support quality, and pricing arrangements,” said Ernesto Lamaina, General Manager of Lifted. “By bringing WorkMotion into the Lifted group, we add an EOR provider with directly owned entities and employment offerings in the markets that matter most to our customers. WorkMotion extends that model to more than 30 countries, further strengthening convenience and value for our customers.”
Lifted continues to offer its customers contingent talent sourcing and engagement across 180+ countries. With the addition of WorkMotion, Lifted has strengthened its contract-agnostic contingent talent offering across all engagement models, including Independent Contractors, Agent of Record (AOR), Employer of Record (EOR), Staff Augmentation, and Outsourcing services. WorkMotion will also continue to service its SMB and mid-market client base, benefiting from Lifted’s sourcing and overall contingent talent capabilities. The acquisition of WorkMotion and its direct entity network will benefit both existing and new Lifted customers going forward.
About Lifted, an Upwork Company
Lifted is a tech-enabled contingent workforce supplier that helps enterprises rapidly source and compliantly engage any type of contingent talent. It leverages proprietary technology and a global talent pool of 18m+ people.
Author
Ernesto Lamaina is the General Manager of Lifted, an Upwork company dedicated to helping enterprises source, engage, and manage contingent talent across every contract type—independent contractors, staff augmentation, employer of record, and managed services.
