Upwork: Now a survival of the fittest for freelancers
Freelancing on Upwork has become a rigorous game of survival for freelancers across the world. Among many other unfavourable new developments, each Upwork connect now costs in the region of $0.15, and an average job which used to require 2–6 connects now requires mostly 16 connects. This means that every proposal you send as a freelancer now costs about 16 x $0.15, totaling $2.40 per proposal, roughly $3.
For freelancers, especially those outside the US, Canada, and the UK, even before the implementation of these new changes by Upwork, it typically takes 20–30 proposals to land a job. This translates to a total cost of $60-$90 just to secure one job on Upwork. Amazingly, many freelancers don’t keep records to be conscious of this cost.
Is Upwork Prospering more at the expense of Clients & freelancers?
I would prefer not to articulate this challenging reality, but it’s important to acknowledge the situation as it stands. If you manage to get a $100 job, Upwork takes a 10% commission, leaving you with $90. By this point, you might still be at a loss or even out to a zero due to the initial investment in connects. Meanwhile, Upwork has made $100 off your efforts. Also, there are tons of fake jobs on Upwork and jobs that the prospective client ended up not hiring anyone. In those cases, Upwork, say 50 freelancers apply for that job and say each proposal requires 16 connects, Upwork make $2.40 X 50, which is about $120 from that job post and same applies to fake job posts too, which is one logical reason why Upwork seems reluctant to deal with the fake job posts issue. Upwork responses to freelancers’ outcry has been introducing superficial notifications like “Your proposal for so-so job was viewed”.
This situation is reminiscent of traditional 9-to-5 jobs where an employee’s request for a salary increase is met with an invitation to lunch.
Take a look at the image above. I got hired for this job about an hour ago yet someone outbid me an hour after which means Upwork is still showing the job as open to freelancers and to be fair to Upwork, the job though still served in freelancer’s feeds, may even indicate hired but many freelancers wont pay attention and still give Upwork their connect. Remember, connect equals money. This is one of the reasons why some freelancers keep complaining that their proposals don’t get viewed. (Learn more about reasons why your proposals may not be getting viewed: https://youtu.be/n31IADtP_h4?si=NqDdRzOVQuhSVO76)
What can freelancers do?
The bright side lies in landing larger projects. When projects grow into hundreds or thousands of dollars, freelancers have a better chance of recouping their investment and making a profit.
Given the high costs and competitive environment, freelancers need to be strategic about the jobs they apply for. Low-budget projects can lead to losses, so it’s crucial to focus on higher-value opportunities. Also, freelancers need to raise their rates to cover for the multiple cost Upwork charges. The down side is that this all falls on the clients, which may not be fair but is the ripple effect of Upwork’s new policies that are very unfavourable to freelancers, policies like charging connects for availability badge, boosted profile, increasing connect requirement for job bids, increased direct contract service fee from about 3.5% to 5%, increase in service fee of large contracts which used to be 5% to 10% and increase in Upwork freelancer plus membership.
https://youtu.be/HWb6oKmo0dE?si=BQYrXhH8a8O4MnGB
Consequently, there has been more reports of clients luring freelancers off the platform hence, Upwork has increased their campaign or reminder of their term of contract against circumvention.
Freelancers should also only apply for jobs the have great portfolio and experience in and learn to write effective proposals to reduce the number of Upwork jobs you have to apply to get one job, for example, with a better portfolio, profile and proposal writing technique, you don’t have to send as much as 30 proposals to get a single job. Subscribe to my YouTube channel.
For new freelancers, the competition on Upwork has intensified. It’s vital to avoid wasting free connects on trial and error. Instead, invest time in learning how to navigate Upwork effectively. This preparation can help you avoid the frustration that many face when trying to get jobs on the platform.
https://youtu.be/IzvlWDZG2LY?si=NhESnkr5na6UoLBj
In conclusion, succeeding on Upwork now demands a strategic approach, deliberate learning, careful planning, and a focus on high-value projects. Only then can freelancers hope to thrive in this increasingly competitive environment.
