Today we are thrilled to announce an exciting landmark in oDesk’s history — we have reached more than $1 billion of work done through our online workplace.

We are proud to be the first online workplace to reach this milestone, while remaining true to our mission: creating freedom and opportunity for the world’s best businesses and best professionals to work together. After all, the simple truth underlying this landmark is that work is no longer a place.

A number in and of itself means very little, but the millions of people feeling the positive impact of online work means everything. So as we take a moment today to celebrate this milestone, we would like to first and foremost celebrate the people that made it happen — our fantastic community of businesses and freelancers. It’s your hard work, advocacy and loyalty that is changing the way the world works for the better. You are true innovators who realize that work today isn’t a time, a place or a role — it’s about bringing together the best people in the world and creating more opportunity for all.

This landmark also hints at what the oDesk community has known all along — online work is here to stay. Not since the Industrial Revolution have we experienced such rapid disruption in the way we work, and this is only the beginning. This shift is a very good thing, as the freedom inherent to online work have the potential to change everything from career paths to organizational structure.

For more information on this landmark and the rise of online work, we invite you to explore the materials here. If you’re considering hiring via oDesk, this new resource center features insights from people who have paved the way, as does our new client eBook. And if you’re hiring or working on oDesk already, thank you for being part of this incredible community. We love the way we work!