Shut-up of signal at entrance to Silicon Valley headquarters of outsourcing and freelancing firm Upwork, Mountain View, California, Could 3, 2019.Â
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Activist investor Engine Capital has a roughly 4% stake in freelance market Upwork and is pushing for a shakeup to the corporate’s board.
In a letter to Upwork’s board on Friday, Engine stated the corporate wants to repair “foundational points” which can be plaguing the platform.
Engine stopped in need of calling for CEO Hayden Brown’s ouster within the letter, which was obtained by CNBC, however questioned whether or not Upwork’s board has been adequately overseeing administration.
“Brown is now successfully on her third administration staff in 4 years,” Engine founder Arnaud Ajdler stated within the letter. Brown has had three CFOs in 4 years, the activist stated, including that former workers have expressed frustration with the corporate’s “lack of strategic readability and focus.”
Engine singled out a number of Upwork administrators, together with Chairman Thomas Layton and Greg Gretsch, for his or her prolonged tenures. Splunk CEO Gary Steele can be on the board.
“We additionally word the quite a few enterprise relationships between varied administrators, which diminish their independence,” Ajdler wrote. In the meantime, none of Upwork’s administrators have any obvious expertise in staffing business, the activist stated.
Engine stated Upwork ought to transfer rapidly to simplify the platform, minimize prices, and develop its enterprise enterprise, the place it is behind chief rival Fiverr.
A consultant for Upwork did not instantly return a request for remark.
Upwork shares are down 37% this 12 months and about 85% from their 2021 excessive. The corporate’s inventory soared through the again half of 2020 and into the next 12 months, as distant work through the pandemic spurred progress within the freelancing market.
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