--- title: "#230 – Adrian Sticea on Navigating the Decline of WordPress Work on Upwork and the Rise of New Opportunities" url: https://daily.dev/posts/230-adrian-sticea-on-navigating-the-decline-of-wordpress-work-on-upwork-and-the-rise-of-new-oppor-ilbkx4ohv source_url: https://wptavern.com/podcast/230-adrian-sticea-on-navigating-the-decline-of-wordpress-work-on-upwork-and-the-rise-of-new-opportunities type: article source: "WP Tavern" published: 2026-08-19T13:04:53.038Z updated: 2026-08-19T13:14:31.726Z tags: ["career", "wordpress"] reading_time: 31 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # #230 – Adrian Sticea on Navigating the Decline of WordPress Work on Upwork and the Rise of New Opportunities **[WP Tavern](https://daily.dev/sources/wptavern)** · 31 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A WordPress developer since 2013 recounts how a LinkedIn post charting his freelance work sourced from Upwork going from nearly 100% to zero went viral, sparking discussion in the WordPress community. He and the host explore possible causes including AI making developers more efficient and reducing hiring demand, broader economic downturns and tech layoffs, marketplace saturation, and competition from vetted platforms like Toptal and temp agencies. He notes complex plugin and enterprise builds have dried up on Upwork while simple website work persists, and that newer web projects increasingly favor AI-assisted JavaScript stacks over WordPress. Despite the loss of Upwork as a lead source, his income hasn't suffered because he pivoted to LinkedIn networking, direct agency relationships, and recruiter/temp agency partnerships, which he says yield better clients and long-term relationships than the marketplace ever did. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why has WordPress freelance work on Upwork declined so much recently? A freelance WordPress developer who worked primarily through Upwork since 2015 saw his work volume drop from nearly 100% of his income to zero by 2026. Causes cited include AI making developers more efficient and reducing hiring demand, tech sector layoffs and economic pressure, marketplace saturation, and clients shifting to vetted platforms like Toptal, Codeable, or temp agencies such as Robert Half instead of Upwork. _Freelancers tracking shifts in the WordPress and AI-driven job market follow stories like this on daily.dev._ ### Is simple WordPress website building still in demand on freelance platforms, or has that dried up too? Simple website builds are still findable on Upwork, but complex work like custom plugin development, enterprise builds, and legacy code maintenance has largely disappeared from the platform, according to one longtime freelancer whose clients are mostly US-based. He attributes this to newer web projects favoring AI-assisted JavaScript stacks over WordPress, while established WordPress sites are kept due to technical debt concerns. _Developers weighing where complex WordPress work is headed can follow these market shifts on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Upwork cuts full-year forecast as AI pressures its marketplace](https://daily.dev/posts/upwork-cuts-full-year-forecast-as-ai-pressures-its-marketplace-mznq3ik5o) · The Next Web · 1 upvotes · 2 comments - [Who’s Left to Build WordPress?](https://daily.dev/posts/who-s-left-to-build-wordpress--qt60p0ff4) · WP Mayor · 29 upvotes · 10 comments --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#wordpress](https://daily.dev/tags/wordpress) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/230-adrian-sticea-on-navigating-the-decline-of-wordpress-work-on-upwork-and-the-rise-of-new-oppor-ilbkx4ohv)