Elance
| Elance
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Private |
| Seat |
Mountain View, California |
| Branch | Internet online job platform Freelance marketplace |
| Website | www.elance.de |
Elance was a global platform for online outsourcing . Clients were able to hire independent freelance specialists and use online tools to coordinate teams and projects worldwide. Independent contractors created online profiles and portfolios, submitted bids for jobs, collaborated with their clients through the Elance website, and also received their payment through the platform. The biggest competitors in the field of online outsourcing were freelancer.com and, in Europe, twago . At the end of 2013 and April 2014, Elance merged with oDesk, one of its largest competitors to date. In May 2015, Elance-oDesk started together under Upwork .
background
The founders of Elance were inspired to found the company by a 1998 Harvard Business Review article titled "The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy". They saw the need for technology that would enable virtual work. Thus, the first version of the website was launched in 1999. Two years later, Elance introduced a provider management system for contractors and third party services for large companies. In 2006 Elance sold its corporate software division and began developing the current network-based platform for online work.
As of February 2012, Elance is used by approximately 140,000 companies and 1.4 million registered contractors who have collectively raised more than US $ 500 million.
Elance
Client
Companies can use Elance's website to post jobs, find contractors, and get bids. You can compare contractors applying for the job by looking at their qualifications, jobs completed so far, reviews, portfolios, and skill test results. Once a contractor is selected, all communication, file sharing and payment are handled directly between both parties via Elance's online workspace. Time sheets are automatically created for hour-based jobs and Elance's optional Work View instrument provides an official record of the work done. For project-based jobs, milestones are set in order to subdivide the project and to get a precise overview of the progress. Payments will be held in trust by Elance and will only be paid out once a milestone and thus an interim goal has been reached and confirmed. If a contractor offers a client an hourly wage or a fixed price, Elance automatically adds a service fee of between 6.75% and 8.75%. After Elance has received payment for the work invoiced from the client, the fee will be deducted and the remainder will be credited to the contractor's account.
contractor
Professional freelancers can browse the Elance website for potential jobs, search for clients, bid on jobs, and then collaborate using the online workspace. There messages are exchanged with the client and work files are uploaded. Each contractor has an individual profile, which shows jobs completed so far and their assessments, a portfolio and specific skills as well as background information on the training. This information can be verified by a potential client. Registered users can submit up to 15 bids for jobs per month for free, while paid memberships allow additional bids. Payment for work done is guaranteed for both hourly and project-based work when using the Elance system.
A 2011 survey of contractors showed that under 36% of respondents, Elance was their only source of income. Furthermore, 69% stated that they had at least a bachelor's degree. The contractors can come from the same country as the client ( onshoring ) or from abroad ( offshoring ).
Skills
IT jobs such as web and app programming and development contribute the vast majority (59%) of Elance's earnings, followed by creative jobs (24%), marketing (7%) and operational jobs (7%). Jobs for writers and graphic designers are also popular. Elance maintains a list of the 100 Most Requested Skills, and in 2011 PHP programming, WordPress programming, article writing, graphic design, and HTML programming topped the list. Elance provides detailed information, including global numbers of job growth and earnings for the most requested skills, on its website.
Awards and recognitions
Elance is cited as an example of the emerging pattern of informal workplace communication, the use of social media tools and cloud-based applications to increase productivity. Elance also addresses the increasingly liquid labor market by simplifying direct contact between contractors with specific skills and clients with specific needs. The losses and effort in the search for skilled workers are thus reduced and the economy as a whole benefits from it.
As companies are increasingly keen to hire project-based personnel instead of employing traditional full-time employees, freelance platforms such as Elance are becoming increasingly important. Entrepreneurs support the trend as their staff costs are reduced, while workers benefit from greater job security as they work for multiple employers. Project-based employment also allows smaller companies access to highly qualified skilled workers at a significantly lower price compared to permanent employees.
In 2009 Elance was selected as one of CNET's Webware 100, an award recognizing products and services that embody the Web 2.0 ideals of collaboration and cloud computing .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "How it Works" . Elance.
- ↑ Needleman, Sarah E. (June 21, 2010). "Managing at a Distance: New websites help managers at small companies keep closer track of their freelancers' work" . The Wall Street Journal Online.
- ↑ Thomas W. Malone; Robert J. Laubacher. "The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy" ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 539 kB). Harvard Business Review.
- ^ "5 Things to Know Before Becoming an Elance Provider" . businesspundit.com.
- ^ "2011: Online Employment Review" .
- ^ Rafe Needleman. "Elance updates tools for hiring, managing contract labor" . CNet.
- ^ "How to Manage Your Clients" .
- ^ "How Does Elance Work and How Much Does It Cost?" ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ "What It Costs" . Elance.
- ^ "Your Online Profile & Portfolio" .
- ^ "Ask an Expert: Freelancing is easier than ever because of technology, attitudes" . USAToday.com.
- ↑ "Guaranteed Payment" .
- ^ "Freelance Talent Report" .
- ^ "Elance Online Employment Report" .
- ^ "Elance Index: Online Contract Work Shows Growth". ReadWriteWeb.com.
- ↑ "Overall Skill Trends" .
- ↑ "Overall Skill Trends" . Elance.
- ↑ Quentin Hardy (January 7, 2012). "A Prophet for a New Workplace" . The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ^ Damien Hoffman (October 11, 2010). "Should ODesk, Elance, and Solvate Have Won the Nobel Prize in Economics?" . The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
- ↑ Carolyn Hughes (December 13, 2011). "4 tips for small business hiring" . The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ^ Paul Davidson (October 13, 2010). "Freelance workers reshape companies and jobs" . USA Today. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ↑ "Small Business Vendor Award Nominees" ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ "Webware 100 winner: Elance" .
