日前，微软宣布和全球最大的自由职业者工作平台Upwork合作开发新工具，帮助企业雇主管理合作、雇佣的自由职业者。《美国先驱报》称，两家公司最近的合作——帮助企业在合同期内暂时访问企业微软Office应用程序的工具——将是全面收购的第一步。

新软件助力公司

管理自由职业者

这款新软件旨在帮助公司在有限的时间内，让需要使用某些微软办公相关工具(比如workplace chat app)的合作自由职业者更容易地得到帮助。

当项目结束时，新软件会自动切断自由职业者对合作雇主微软相关产品(包括任何相关数据)的访问。以往，雇主公司必须手动阻止自由职业者进入，这可是一个耗时的麻烦。

Upwork首席执行官斯蒂芬·卡斯瑞尔希望，这款名为Microsoft 365自由职业者工具包的新免费产品最终将吸引更多雇主客户使用包括自由职业者筛选服务在内的Upwork付费产品。

由于微软拥有庞大的企业客户名单，Upwork与微软合作开发了这些新工具，从而给了Upwork一个从企业客户那里获得更多业务的机会。卡斯瑞尔介绍，许多自由职业者使用Upwork平台与雇主公司联系，从事涉及微软技术的项目，比如开发人员使用微软的Sharepoint软件构建企业内部网。他说，有了这些新工具，公司可以更容易地找到专门从事微软相关项目的自由职业者，并能更快地聘用他们。

有消息称微软计划

将Upwork纳入公司

此外，据《美国先驱报》(USA Herald)报道，有消息称，微软已经相中Upwork，并计划很快将其纳入公司大家庭。

虽然职业社交平台领英在大公司、全职员工和人力资源部门中很受欢迎，但Upwork是一个非常不同的平台。2013年成立以来，Upwork旨在将个体自由职业者与寻求短期项目员工的企业和个人联系起来。目前，该平台已经拥有超过1200万的注册用户。

《美国先驱报》称，两家公司最近的合作——帮助企业在合同期内暂时访问企业微软Office应用程序的工具——将是全面收购的第一步。

今年6月，微软宣布以262亿美元收购领英，这笔微软史上最大收购也意味着微软迈出了踏入网络社交领域的一大步。美国媒体分析，微软对社交平台企业领域的控制力越来越强，这无疑给人一种微软将采取行动的感觉。和领英相比，Upwork有更明显的直接收入流：通常根据项目价值向雇主企业收取20%的费用、向自由职业者方收取10%。除此之外，如果雇主企业想要更多的自由职业者使用微软软件和Outlook，那么这将是一个直接吸引他们的好机会。

对此传言，Upwork首席执行官卡斯里尔没有明确回应。但他表示，Upwork选择与微软进行合作，且不打算与谷歌或Slack等微软竞争对手达成类似交易。

Microsoft and enterprise software company Upwork have partnered on new tools to help companies manage freelance workers.

The new software is intended to help companies more easily give temporary workers who need to access certain Microsoft Office-related tools，like the Teams workplace chat app，for limited amounts of time.

When projects end， the new software automatically cuts freelancers’ access to Microsoft-related products including any associated data.Typically，companies must manually block freelancers from access，which can be a time-consuming hassle.

Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel hopes that the new free product，called Microsoft 365 Freelance Toolkit，will eventually attract more customers to Upwork’s paid products that include freelance screening services.

Upwork teamed with Microsoft on the new tools because of Microsoft’s huge list of corporate customers，thereby giving Upwork an opportunity to get more business from them. Kasriel said that many freelancers who use Upwork to connect with companies work on projects that involve Microsoft technology， like a developer who builds corporate intranets using Microsoft’s Sharepoint software.

With the new tools， companies can more easily search for freelancers who specialize in Microsoft-related projects and hire them more quickly， he said.

According to the USA Herald， sources indicate that Microsoft is sniffing around Upwork， and has plans to make it part of the company’s family soon.

While LinkedIn is popular among large companies，full-time employees and HR departments looking to tempt said full-time employees elsewhere，Upwork is a very different beast. A hub for freelancers， formed in 2013 with the merging of oDesk and Elance (sadly the didn’t go for “Elanceodesk”)， the site aims to connect self-employed types with businesses and individuals looking to staff short-term projects. It has more than 12 million registered users.

USA Herald is incredibly vague about the nature of its sources， not even revealing which side of the potential transaction they sit on. The report states that a recent collaboration between the two companies - tools to help businesses provide temporary access to Enterprise Microsoft Office apps for the duration of a contract - was the first step on the road to a full acquisition.

Upwork has a more obvious direct revenue stream with a consistent flow of transactions between employers and temporary employees and charges the former between ten and 20 per cent of the value of a given project.

Kasriel said that Upwork doesn’t plan similar deals with Microsoft competitors like Google’s G Suite workplace software or Slack.“Right now that is not the plan，”Kasriel said.