As an increasing amount of work shifts from manufacturing-based to knowledge-based, businesses can find talent anywhere, regardless of where they happen to live. The following trends are pushing businesses to embrace remote teams and leverage that flexibility now.

1. Should You Build a
Distributed Workforce?

2. Trends driving businesses to embrace remote teams
As an increasing amount of work shifts from manufacturing-based to knowledge-based, businesses can
find talent anywhere, regardless of where they happen to live. The following trends are pushing businesses
to leverage that flexibility now.
Should You Build a Distributed Workforce? 2
Technology enables freedom
Technology is making it easier for people
to find work online, which enables
professionals to explore more flexible
work arrangements.
of freelancers say
technology has made it
easier to find freelance work
of professionals at the top
of their industry prefer to
work independently
Hiring is getting harder
Talent scarcity continues to be organizations’
biggest hiring challenge.
Managers are 3X more
likely to say hiring has
gotten harder than easier
in the past year
Commutes are getting longer
The average U.S. worker
spent 225 hours (9 days)
commuting in 2018
64%
77%
(Source: FIA 2019)
It’s how people want to work
More workers, especially younger
generations, prioritize flexibility over how,
when, and where they get work done.
of Gen Z freelance
of millennials freelance
53%
40%

3. Should You Build a Distributed Workforce? 3
One of the main benefits of having a distributed team
is that you get to tap the world’s talent. Not all of the
talent lives within 20 miles of an office, so if you want
to have the best people, and increasingly, successful
organizations are about the best people, you need to be
able to find them wherever they are and not just in your
local area.
When we founded the business back in 2005, we didn’t
set out to build a virtual workforce. We had a hard time
finding qualified talent in the Silicon Valley—they were
either working for another company or starting their own.
Looking outside our local market became the quickest way
to access the skills we needed to support growing project
demands. Today our team is entirely virtual. I’m a firm
believer in the remote workforce model.
Scott Wharton, VP and General Manager,
Logitech Video Collaboration
Erik Allebest, CEO of Chess.com
An expanded talent pool
5 benefits of building a distributed workforce
Beyond the cost savings that come from supporting smaller office spaces—or for some companies,
no central office at all—there are many reasons organizations adopt a distributed workforce.
The most common benefits include:
of people with a remote work
option are more likely to recommend
their company to a friend
of companies utilize remote
talent to access skills
1
81%
59%
(Source: OWLLabs.com) (Source: Future Workforce Report 2018)

4. Should You Build a Distributed Workforce? 4
People benefit when they don’t start each day rushing to leave for work and
slogging through commute traffic.
People demand greater work/life balance and are not afraid to find it.
Compared to onsite workers, remote workers are happier in their jobs.
Remote workers are 57% more
likely that the average American
to be satisfied with their job
report reduced stress
say they’re less
likely to leave their
employer if given a
remote work option
Stanford study shows
attrition dropped
50% when employees
worked remotely
of employees say they’re most
productive working off-site,
without office distractions
and interruptions
have a more
positive attitude
86%
53%
44%
Healthier, happier workers
Retention of top employees
Increased engagement and satisfaction
4
5
3
Productivity improves, not just because
people are more focused but also because
they’re working on what they do best.
Improved productivity2
74%
50%
(Source: ConnectSolutions)
(Source: Fundera)
(Source: OWLLabs.com) (Source: Stanford Business)
Nasdaq’s 4-person social media team was
tasked with generating Facebook Live shows,
launch Facebook Watch programs and other
videos on demand to support each customer
IPO. The challenge was that they didn’t have
the technical, artistic and analytical skills needed
in-house. They adopted a hybrid workforce
model leveraging independent professionals on
Upwork to support their video project needs.
As a result, they’ve driven millions of impressions
per each customer IPO, up to 100 Facebook Live
shows each month, and much more.

5. Remote is the new normal
Distributed is no longer how people will work in the future. It’s how people are working now. Worker
demands and the benefits of adopting a distributed workforce are so great that more than half (55%) of
hiring managers say remote work is the new normal.
of employees work
remotely at least 1x week
By 2028, it’s predicted
that 73% of all teams will
have remote workers
73%
70%
(Source: CNBC.com)
Should You Build a Distributed Workforce? 5
For businesses of all sizes, conversations are changing from, “Should we
adopt a distributed workforce?” to “How do we do it?”. The framework
Upwork uses involves a three-phase process developed from years of
analyzing best practices. You can get the framework in the guide How to
Build and Expand a Flexible Talent Program. The guide shows how to
efficiently build, measure, and scale a program to meet your business goals
and optimize ROI.

6. The Upwork Difference
Let Upwork partner with you to find the
talent you need with the flexibility you want.
For more details visit Upwork today.
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