Gen – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

Freelance contractor Upwork had its best year of growth as a public company last year, and CEO Hayden Brown sees no signs of momentum that set in before the coronavirus pandemic slowed as the economy resumed.

Younger workers, marked by a labor market that has suffered two recessions in just over a decade, are increasingly seeking more control and flexibility in their careers. The trends have only been fueled by the remote working world, giving companies the opportunity to adapt and tap into a global talent pool of independent professionals, she told CNBC on Wednesday.

“The paradigm has completely changed,” Brown said in Mad Money, that recessions in 2007 and 2020 dampened worker confidence and loyalty. “We’ve seen this again in years. This isn’t a new trend, but it’s certainly accelerated today with more than half of the Gen Z freelance and 59 million American freelance professionals.”

Gen Z, short for Generation Z, consists of young people who are currently in adulthood or who are entering adulthood and are now moving through a pandemic-shaped economy. The age group is also known as the zoomer.

Millennials, its older counterpart, came of age during the Great Recession.

Upwork, a job market that went public in 2018, is helping companies leverage the gig economy for both short-term and long-term projects. The independent economy has disrupted various industries, giving rise to household names like Uber and DoorDash.

Brown said that over 70% of the freelancers on the platform have college degrees and many earn high wages.

Unlike ride-hail apps like Uber, which saw pandemic sales down 21% after years of multi-digit growth, the small-cap Upwork business accelerated in 2020. Revenue for the Santa Clara, California-based company last rose 24% year-on-year to $ 373.63 million.

Stocks are up 522% over the past 12 months, hitting a 52-week high on Wednesday before closing at $ 53.36.

“This is a long-term trend in the workforce, and companies recognize that if they want to work with the best talent, they must tap into the independent economy,” said Brown. “You can’t limit yourself to full-time employees.”

Upwork expects business growth of at least 23% in 2021. The $ 6.5 billion company announced a full year revenue forecast of $ 460 million to $ 470 million.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision to appoint retired four-star Army General Lloyd Austin as his Secretary of Defense, a personnel election that could become one of the future president’s most controversial.

Under the National Security Act of 1947, Congress prohibited anyone from serving as secretary of defense for seven years after active service. But Austin only left the army four years ago, and he would require a special waiver from Congress to circumvent the seven-year rule.

Biden wrote in The Atlantic, tacitly admitting that Austin’s nomination was against civilian requirements, but argued that the strength of Austin’s qualifications outweighed the potential damage caused by blurring the civil-military divide.

“I respect and believe in the importance of civilian control of our military and the importance of a strong civil-military working relationship at DoD – as does Austin,” Biden wrote.

“Austin also knows that the Secretary of Defense has different responsibilities from an officer-general and that the civil-military dynamic has been under great pressure over the past four years,” Biden wrote.

If this were confirmed by the Senate, the 1975 graduate of West Point would be the first black Pentagon leader to break through one of the more permanent glass ceilings of the US government.

U.S. Central Command Commander General Lloyd Austin III holds a press conference on Operation Inherent Resolve, the international military effort against the Islamic State Group (IS), on October 17, 2014 at the Pentagon in Washingon, DC.

Paul J. Richards | AFP | Getty Images

Austin also has a personal relationship with Biden after gaining the President-elect’s trust and confidence in leading the global coalition against ISIS, which began in 2014, while Biden was Vice President and Austin led US Central Command.

Biden also emphasized in his Atlantic essay that despite Austin’s recent active service, he understands “that our military is only an instrument of our national security”.

“To keep America strong and secure, we must use all of our tools,” wrote Biden. “He and I share an obligation to empower our diplomats and development experts to guide our foreign policy, using violence only as a last resort.”

Still, news of Austin’s likely nomination this week on Capitol Hill was met with skepticism, and several key Senators said they were not sure they would vote to give Austin the waiver necessary to take the position of Secretary of Defense .

“That’s the exception, not the rule,” Majority Whip John Thune, RS.D., told reporters Tuesday. “I’m not including or excluding it. But I think it’s something we need to consider when the time comes.”

Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester also said he was unwilling to give Austin a waiver, even though the retired commanding officer would be “a great secretary”.

“I think this guy is going to be a great secretary,” Tester told reporters. “I just think we should look at the rules.”

Congress put aside its concerns about a military officer’s leadership of the Pentagon in 2016 when President Donald Trump addressed retired four-star general of the U.S. Marine Corps, Jim Mattis, who at the time had only been out of uniform for three years .