Freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, once hailed as prophets of the so-called freelance revolution, are taking an extraordinary beating in the markets:
Fiverr’s stock has plunged to below $27, down 92% from its all-time high, while Upwork’s stock has lost 87%.
The crash is due in part to poor financial results and to the growing use of ChatGPT for repetitive, low-skill work brokered by these and similar freelance marketplaces.
The decline is even more notable given that the overall freelance economy is growing, at least in the U.S. — a reminder that freelancing and online freelance platforms are two different things.
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