VWorker
Encyclopedia
vWorker is an online portal and virtual
employment agency
that enables companies to outsource projects and independent contractors
to find work. Together with Elance
, Freelancer
, Guru
, oDesk
and Scriptlance
it is one of the largest global freelance marketplace
s of its kind.
vWorker is owned by Exhedra Solutions, Inc.
The type of job board that he had in mind differed from a static Craigslist
-type online bulletin board by being enriched with features that would exclude the possibility that employers give out advance payments for work that does not get delivered when agreed or that does not meet their requirements, and the chance that contractors deliver their work online but never hear back from employers who choose not to pay. These protective features included time tracking software
for pay-for-time projects, escrow
accounts into which employers place the funds for a job and from which the mediating company pays contractors when the work is delivered, arbitration
support for settling disputes, and a double blind rating system from previous employers and contractors for reputation management
to build trust and credibility between parties who do not know each other. At the time the features were introduced, Rent A Coder was the first online marketplace to protect both employers and employees with escrowing and arbitration.
The company grew rapidly with the general proliferation of online businesses and was named by the Inc. magazine
one of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in the United States in 2007-2010. Contributing factors to its growth were improved technological infrastructures (high-speed internet, open source and rapid development tools), increased competition and demand for expertise not available internally, and the late-2000s financial crisis
that made employers look for project-based alternatives to full-time employment, while the smaller number of available full-time jobs in people's immediate physical location made many of them become self-employed or try freelancing to earn additional income.
On April 15, 2010, the site expanded to a hundred new work categories that included, in addition to programming, also graphic design, writing, personal assistance, paralegal work, and others. To reflect the wider site audience, the company changed its name to vWorker, short for "virtual worker".
Employers do not pay any fees to list their jobs and workers are not charged subscription fees. vWorker makes money by charging 6.5%-9% commission fees on successfully completed hourly projects and 7.5%-15% fees on fixed price projects; the commissions include arbitration and payment guarantees that are strictly enforced.
According to the model described, vWorker is not a freelance marketplace in a traditional sense where workers create works on their own initiative, and then try to market and sell them while keeping the copyright to their work. On vWorker, all projects are performed on a work for hire
basis so that an employer requests a certain task to be performed according to his or her specifications and gets the copyright to the work produced.
Modern freelancing marketplaces are frequently also said to be characterized by a reverse auction
type bidding system in which sellers compete to offer the lowest price that meets the specifications of a buyer's bid request, and prices decrease during the auction as sellers compete to offer lower bids than their competitors.
The bidding system on vWorker differs slightly from that general model. Because vWorker uses closed or hidden bidding, a person who submits a bid does not know the prices that other bidders have quoted and cannot modify his or her own bid accordingly, so there is no necessary decrease in bid amounts during the auction. It also turns out that the lowest bid on vWorker is chosen only by 20% of the employers and that most buyers tend to choose in fact the bid that was submitted last.
accidentally released private information about low-income and foster care families on the vWorker web site while posting a project. vWorker has also been used by students to "outsource" their homework problems.
While it may be difficult to completely rule out user errors and lack of integrity on public freelance marketplaces, vWorker's solution was to strengthen its copyright and intellectual property complaint system so that it can be used by site users and members of the general public for removing sensitive materials. Professors can use the same system to remove projects for homework because the professor who created the homework owns the copyright to it.
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
employment agency
Employment agency
An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...
that enables companies to outsource projects and independent contractors
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
to find work. Together with Elance
ELance
Elance is a global Internet platform for online employment, where businesses hire independent freelance professionals with online collaboration tools to help manage remote teams and projects online. Utilizing the platform, businesses can connect with and hire remote workers with skills such as...
, Freelancer
Freelancer
A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...
, Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
, oDesk
ODesk
oDesk is a company with a global job marketplace and a series of tools targeted at businesses that intend to hire and manage remote workers. Based in Redwood City, CA, oDesk was founded in 2003 by Greek entrepreneurs Odysseas Tsatalos and Stratis Karamanlakis....
and Scriptlance
Scriptlance
ScriptLance is a freelance marketplace that uses a reverse auction system to help buyers find programmers and designers to outsource their projects. Freelancers place bids on projects posted by interested buyers, who then work with the chosen winner to complete their programming work...
it is one of the largest global freelance marketplace
Freelance marketplace
Freelance marketplaces are websites that match buyers and sellers of services provided via the internet. Service providers, or sellers, create a profile where they include a description of the services which they offer, examples of their work and in some cases information about their rates...
s of its kind.
vWorker is owned by Exhedra Solutions, Inc.
Background
vWorker was founded in 2001 in Tampa, Florida by Ian Ippolito under the name of Rent A Coder. Ippolito had previously launched the Planet Source Code website for sharing the source code of computer programs and wanted to create a platform for intermediating paid programming projects.The type of job board that he had in mind differed from a static Craigslist
Craigslist
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....
-type online bulletin board by being enriched with features that would exclude the possibility that employers give out advance payments for work that does not get delivered when agreed or that does not meet their requirements, and the chance that contractors deliver their work online but never hear back from employers who choose not to pay. These protective features included time tracking software
Time tracking software
Time tracking software is a category of computer software that allows its users to record time spent on tasks. This software is typically used by professionals who bill their customers by the hour, including lawyers and accountants. It represents an electronic version of the traditional paper...
for pay-for-time projects, escrow
Escrow
An escrow is:* an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of...
accounts into which employers place the funds for a job and from which the mediating company pays contractors when the work is delivered, arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
support for settling disputes, and a double blind rating system from previous employers and contractors for reputation management
Reputation management
Reputation management , also known as directory management, is the process of tracking an entity's actions and other entities' opinions about those actions; reporting on those actions and opinions; and reacting to that report creating a feedback loop. All entities involved are generally people, but...
to build trust and credibility between parties who do not know each other. At the time the features were introduced, Rent A Coder was the first online marketplace to protect both employers and employees with escrowing and arbitration.
The company grew rapidly with the general proliferation of online businesses and was named by the Inc. magazine
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
one of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in the United States in 2007-2010. Contributing factors to its growth were improved technological infrastructures (high-speed internet, open source and rapid development tools), increased competition and demand for expertise not available internally, and the late-2000s financial crisis
Late-2000s financial crisis
The late-2000s financial crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...
that made employers look for project-based alternatives to full-time employment, while the smaller number of available full-time jobs in people's immediate physical location made many of them become self-employed or try freelancing to earn additional income.
On April 15, 2010, the site expanded to a hundred new work categories that included, in addition to programming, also graphic design, writing, personal assistance, paralegal work, and others. To reflect the wider site audience, the company changed its name to vWorker, short for "virtual worker".
Business model
vWorker allows employers to post projects and jobs on the web site. Workers who are registered with the site compete for the opportunity to work on the projects by posting bids. Employers are free to choose the bid they prefer and escrow the funds with vWorker. When the job is completed, the employer authorizes the release of the funds to the worker.Employers do not pay any fees to list their jobs and workers are not charged subscription fees. vWorker makes money by charging 6.5%-9% commission fees on successfully completed hourly projects and 7.5%-15% fees on fixed price projects; the commissions include arbitration and payment guarantees that are strictly enforced.
According to the model described, vWorker is not a freelance marketplace in a traditional sense where workers create works on their own initiative, and then try to market and sell them while keeping the copyright to their work. On vWorker, all projects are performed on a work for hire
Work for hire
A work made for hire is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally recognized author of that work...
basis so that an employer requests a certain task to be performed according to his or her specifications and gets the copyright to the work produced.
Modern freelancing marketplaces are frequently also said to be characterized by a reverse auction
Reverse auction
A reverse auction is a type of auction in which the roles of buyers and sellers are reversed. In an ordinary auction , buyers compete to obtain a good or service, and the price typically increases over time...
type bidding system in which sellers compete to offer the lowest price that meets the specifications of a buyer's bid request, and prices decrease during the auction as sellers compete to offer lower bids than their competitors.
The bidding system on vWorker differs slightly from that general model. Because vWorker uses closed or hidden bidding, a person who submits a bid does not know the prices that other bidders have quoted and cannot modify his or her own bid accordingly, so there is no necessary decrease in bid amounts during the auction. It also turns out that the lowest bid on vWorker is chosen only by 20% of the employers and that most buyers tend to choose in fact the bid that was submitted last.
Recognition
vWorker is a four time winner of the INC. 5000 award for fastest growing private companies in the United States in 2007-2010.Criticisms
In 2004, workers in Livingston County, New YorkLivingston County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 64,328 people, 22,150 households, and 15,349 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 24,023 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
accidentally released private information about low-income and foster care families on the vWorker web site while posting a project. vWorker has also been used by students to "outsource" their homework problems.
While it may be difficult to completely rule out user errors and lack of integrity on public freelance marketplaces, vWorker's solution was to strengthen its copyright and intellectual property complaint system so that it can be used by site users and members of the general public for removing sensitive materials. Professors can use the same system to remove projects for homework because the professor who created the homework owns the copyright to it.
See also
- Mobile and remote working
- Contingent workforceContingent WorkforceA contingent workforce is a provisional group of workers who work for an organization on a non-permanent basis, also known as freelancers, independent professionals, temporary contract workers, independent contractors or consultants...
- OutsourcingOutsourcingOutsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
- CrowdsourcingCrowdsourcingCrowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....
- IntermediationIntermediationIntermediation involves the "matching" of lenders with savings to borrowers who need money by an agent or third party, such as a bank.If this matching is successful, the lender obtains a positive rate of return, the borrower receives a return for risk taking and entrepreneurship and the banker...