Business
Upwork Monthly Hiring Report: Demand for Quality Assurance, Project Management, and Other Human-Centric Skills Rose in September as Businesses Combat AI “Workslop”
58% of businesses say they’ll prioritize AI proficiency and understanding when hiring freelancers in the next three months4 PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 02, 2025
About this update from Upwork Inc.
58% of businesses say they’ll prioritize AI proficiency and understanding when hiring freelancers in the next three months4 PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Upwork Inc. (Nasdaq: UPWK), the world’s human and AI-powered work marketplace, today released its Monthly Hiring Report for September, revealing rising demand for skills that combat AI “workslop,” such as quality assurance and project management. The report illuminates real-time trends signaling how business leaders are hiring, providing a more comprehensive picture of the U.S. labor market by focusing on the freelance economy – a dynamic sector of the workforce that generates an estimated $1.5 trillion in annual earnings.1 It draws upon data from more than 1 million job posts in the U.S. on Upwork’s marketplace annually and a monthly business pulse survey from the Upwork Research Institute. “Our real-time platform data gives us a unique view into what companies are hiring for, what skills are rising, and how work is evolving in the age of AI, which is changing and enabling new types of work in virtually every category,” said Erica Gessert, chief financial officer at Upwork. “The trends in this month’s report underscore the powerful truth that the future of work is human-AI collaboration, not substitution. From quality assurance to translation, human involvement is essential to turn AI’s potential into quality outcomes and actual business value. Companies are hiring for these and other uniquely human skills to ensure their AI investments pay off.” Top 3 Hiring Insights: September 2025 Demand for translation & localization grew 29% as businesses prioritize human oversight to course-correct AI “workslop.”2As businesses rapidly adopt AI tools, they are simultaneously recognizing the costly side effect of subpar AI output and hallucinations, referred to as “workslop.” Forty percent of employees have experienced workslop, and it takes an average of two hours to resolve each incident.3 To combat this productivity drain, businesses are turning to flexible talent to provide oversight and quality assurance across types of work that require validation, deep context, and creative refinement. Data from Upwork’s marketplace: Translation & localization grew 29%.2Sales & marketing copywriting grew 12%.2Quality assurance testing grew 9%.2 39% of businesses say a lack of trust in AI’s accuracy is a...