Global work marketplace Upwork, the Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent), payment platform Payoneer, and others have launched a new initiative, Opportunity Unlimited: Connecting displaced professionals to remote work. It aims to connect tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainian specialists with businesses offering remote work.
Through the Upwork platform, participants of the initiative will have access to:
- work opportunities;
- coaches who will help displaced professionals register on Upwork, identify skills that are in high demand, and advise them on how to better market themselves to companies seeking independent talent;
- skills certifications to increase the chances of finding work and clients;
- opportunities to develop new skills;
- social services that will allow them to focus on work;
- a reliable way to receive earned funds.
Professionals who do not have an existing account on Upwork can register using a special link. Once an account has been created and the Upwork team has verified the person’s identity, a representative from the platform will contact the prospective participant and offer helpful resources. Professionals with existing Upwork accounts who have relocated can log in and visit this page.
Based on initial learnings, Tent and Upwork will develop best practices for how companies can include displaced independent professionals in their existing operations at scale, and will grow the initiative to include more companies.
“Even before the full-scale invasion of Russia, Payoneer supported Ukrainian freelancers in every possible way. Today, we feel a moral obligation to help our fellow citizens even more. Therefore, we are happy to join the wonderful initiative of Upwork and Tent. We really hope that as many Ukrainians as possible, who were forced to go abroad or to another part of Ukraine, will find decent work that will allow them not only to provide for themselves and their families but also to develop further professionally and personally,” said Lyubov Danilina, Acting Country Manager of Ukraine for Payoneer.
After creating an account on Upwork, professionals then need to establish a method to receive earnings. They can withdraw funds, for example, through the Payoneer payment platform.
More information about the initiative can be found here.
About the initiative’s partners
The initiative has launched with professional services company Genpact and digital transformation firm Sutherland as hiring partners, who will work closely with Tent and Upwork to match professionals from Ukraine with a range of backgrounds and skills – including web, mobile and software development, customer support, and marketing – with projects and long-term engagements on Upwork.
To ensure the success of the initiative, Tent and Upwork will also partner with a network of tech providers like Payoneer, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as NGOs including HIAS, Techfugees, Humans in the Loop, Na’amal, and Upwardly Global, among others – to identify displaced talent who can use the Upwork platform, and to provide wraparound services such as access to training, payments, banking, and other basic necessities.
About Payoneer
Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO) is the world’s go-to partner for digital commerce everywhere. From endless payments to endless growth, Payoneer promises any business, in any market, the technology, connections and confidence to participate and flourish in the new global economy.
Since 2005, Payoneer has been inventing and creating a truly global ecosystem so that businesses can realize their potential. From aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets to the world’s leading digital brands such as Airbnb, Amazon, Google, Upwork and Walmart, Payoneer offers a universe of opportunities, open to you.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
With more and more refugees displaced for longer periods of time, businesses have a critical role to play in helping refugees integrate economically in their new host communities. The Tent Partnership for Refugees mobilizes the global business community to improve the lives and livelihoods of 36 million refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries. Founded by Chobani’s founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya in 2016, we are a network of over 250 major companies committed to including refugees. Tent believes that companies can most sustainably support refugees by leveraging their core business operations – by engaging refugees as potential employees, entrepreneurs and consumers. Find out more at tent.org.
Ukraine refugee situation
With over 5 million people having fled Ukraine and 8 million internally displaced, Ukraine faces an estimated loss of 5 million jobs. More information about people who left Ukraine as a result of the full-scale war is here.