Friday Flexible Workforce Scoop — February 20, 2026
Upwork -36%, Fiverr -35% YTD — AI is repricing the workforce industry. Market pulse, 5 workforce intelligence stories, solutions spotlight, and real business cases.
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Happy Friday everyone, welcome to this week's Friday Flexible Workforce Scoop.
It's a tale of two cities. One's seeing 40%+ growth, with Tony's executive dinner in Nashville last night having over 10 executives ready to spend and innovate.
The other is Robert Half (-56% YTD), and traditional talent marketplaces Upwork (-36%) and Fiverr (-35%).
What gives? AI is gutting traditional talent channels — full-time and traditional contract alike.
But here's what most people miss: AI can do 95% of the work. The limitation is humans and tokens. That remaining 5% of effort? It's not 5% of impact. It's 90% of your company's impact. AI doesn't just accelerate work — it accelerates the Pareto Principle.
Which brings us to our most important message we're telling companies right now: it's not the LLM — it's the humans you have to get right. It's your best talent that plans, owns, and leads AI to keep your company competitive.
Do you have the right talent? We can help.
— The HC Team
The front door to the flexible workforce · app.humancloud.com
This Week's Episode: Bob Pulver
Bob Pulver · Founder, Elevate Your AIQ
Bob spent 22 years at IBM — including seven at the research lab where Watson was born. He played Jeopardy against Watson as part of his job. Now he's helping organizations figure out why their AI investments aren't working: it's not the tools, it's the people.
His big idea: assess your team's AIQ (AI readiness) before deploying anything. Everyone's starting from a different place — some are building in Claude Code, others are still replacing Google with ChatGPT. Meet them where they are.
"Don't just deploy AI wherever you can. Deploy it where you should." — Bob Pulver
Read the Full Deep Dive → · Listen on Spotify
Market Pulse
How the workforce industry traded this week.
| Company | Price | Week | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upwork (UPWK) | $12.76 | -12% | -36% |
| Fiverr (FVRR) | $13.10 | -17% | -35% |
| Randstad (RAND) | €27.63 | -11% | -28% |
| Robert Half (RHI) | $27.29 | -21% | -56% |
| ManpowerGroup (MAN) | $27.94 | +21% | ~flat |
| Kforce (KFRC) | $28.21 | -4% | -11% |
| SAP (SAP) | $204.53 | -12% | -16% |
| Accenture (ACN) | $224.23 | -2% | -31% |
The takeaway: Upwork (-36% YTD) and Fiverr (-35% YTD) are both cratering — despite solid 2025 performance. Both cited soft forward guidance driven by AI adoption shifts in how buyers engage talent. They've tried to embrace AI (Fiverr with AI-generated services, Upwork with AI-matched talent), but the market isn't buying it. Robert Half down 56% YTD. The entire workforce industry is being repriced around one question: what happens when AI changes what work gets done, and how?
Workforce Intelligence
This week's guest was all about AI readiness — so we went deep on the 5 biggest AI + workforce stories.
Policy: Fed Governor Warns AI Could Leave Workers "Essentially Unemployable"
Fed Governor Barr put mass displacement on the table publicly — one of the most senior economic officials to do so. Early evidence shows firms reallocating staff rather than mass layoffs, but regulatory scrutiny of AI workforce decisions is coming. Read more →
Enterprise AI: 100% of Enterprises Plan to Expand Agentic AI in 2026
CrewAI surveyed 500 C-level execs at $100M+ companies. Every single one plans to expand agentic AI this year. 31% of workflows already automated, with another 33% expected by year-end. Read more →
Layoffs: Salesforce Cuts ~1,000 While Scaling Its Own AI Platform
Even AI-focused roles aren't immune. Tech companies have cut 37,000+ jobs in 2026 so far (~781/day). HBR says companies are laying off based on AI's potential, not its proven performance. Read more →
Talent Market: AI Skills Command 3-15% Wage Premiums
WEF and IMF data: skills gaps are now the #1 hiring obstacle — not pay, not benefits. Two-thirds of employers plan to add headcount in H1 2026 but can't find workers with the right capabilities. Read more →
Case Study: BNY Mellon Deploying 20,000 AI Agents Across Its Workforce
The most concrete example of augmentation at scale — pairing every worker with an AI agent rather than replacing them. Financial services is moving fastest on this model. Read more →
Solutions Spotlight
3 solutions on the Human Cloud platform leading in AI-powered workforce capabilities.
SupportWave · #1 in AI
The tech skills you need, when you need them. AI-powered matching with human expertise delivers pre-vetted software developers and IT engineers in 48 hours.
Capabilities: AI · Developers · IT
Turing · #1 in Data Science · #1 in LLM Training
AI-powered talent platform with 4M+ vetted developers and data scientists building AI systems and training LLMs for enterprise and frontier AI labs. Valued at $2.2B.
Capabilities: AI · Data Science · Developers · LLM Training
ThirstySprout · #2 in AI
Flexible & vetted remote AI talent to help companies deliver the right tech talent, at the right time, fast.
Capabilities: AI · Engineers · Product
Business Cases
3 real-world AI + workforce deployments from the Human Cloud platform.
Reduced Cost per Hire by 50% Using 8 ACE-Enabled Recruiters
PSG Global Solutions
A company planned to grow its recruiting team from 8 to 11. Instead, it deployed 8 ACE-enabled (AI-powered) recruiters — and they outperformed an equivalent team of 11 standard recruiters. Cost per hire was cut in half.
Result: 50% cost per hire reduction. 8 AI-enabled recruiters outperformed 11 standard ones.
Request This Exact Business Case →
Achieved 70% Productivity Gains With 3-Phase AI Adoption Program
SuperSide
A company facing 2-3x projected volume growth ran a 3-phase AI adoption program: AI diagnostic, foundational training, and a custom Figma plugin for automated branded asset creation. 15+ hours of live workshops and coaching.
Result: 70% productivity gains identified. 15+ high-impact automation opportunities surfaced.
Request This Exact Business Case →
Deployed 2 Fully Scoped AI Pilot Projects to Improve EV Testing Efficiency
Talentcrowd
A global automotive company's EV test labs were slowed by manual, fragmented processes. Cross-functional AI workshops mapped current workflows and identified where automation could add the most value — including anomaly detection and compliance summaries.
Result: 2 fully scoped AI pilot projects. Dedicated AI task force formed for ongoing adoption.
Request This Exact Business Case →
Coming Next Week
Next Episode: Jose de Cabo joins the Human Cloud Podcast. Full episode drops next week.
Feb 26: HC Monthly: February Edition — Meet fellow flexible talent executives, entrepreneurs, and experts. Join the Network
Mar 2: Matthew Keynoting at the Rosewood, Silicon Valley — Join top Talent & Tech Executives for a discussion on the future of global teams. Reserve Your Spot
About Human Cloud: Human Cloud helps companies find and deploy the right flexible talent solutions in minutes instead of months. By automating discovery, compliance, and orchestration across 1,000+ workforce platforms — business teams move fast, procurement teams stay in control, and rogue contractor spend turns into a strategic advantage.
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