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Job size will now be factored into your JSS

lenaellis
Community Member

UPDATE: The JSS Metric has been updated to reflect the changes that were announced below. As of today, March 1st, all Job Success Scores are now displaying the updated value.


We will soon update JSS metrics to reflect job value in the calculation. Today, a one-week $20 job typically carries the same weight as a one-week $1,000 job in JSS. Soon, JSS will be weighted by job earnings. For example, a one-week $1,000 job will be weighted more than a one-week $20 job. JSS will also exclude contracts with $0 earned and positive feedback. All other JSS policies will remain unchanged.



What does this mean?

We are making this change so a freelancer’s Job Success Score will display a more comprehensive representation of their freelancer workWe understand not all jobs are equal. We know higher budget contracts require more work and freelancers who complete these more complex contracts successfully should get credit for them. Just as longer-term contracts hold more weight in JSS calculations than shorter ones, we believe contract value should also hold significance in the calculation. By giving these jobs more weight, these jobs will have a greater influence on a JSS. 

 

Many freelancers will see an increase in their scores if they’ve successfully completed higher budget contracts in the past. At the same time, a small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS, see a drop in their scores, or lose their Top Rated badge. Today, we are emailing freelancers whose JSS will see a decline of 5% or more, to let them know they will be affected.  Freelancers that see a drop in their score can improve their JSS by completing more jobs with positive feedback, as it works today. Larger budget contracts with positive feedback will result in a higher increase in JSS, however, all great feedback contributes to JSS and whether you work on large or small contracts you can still reach 100% JSS.

 

This change will take effect in March, at which time all Job Success Scores will be updated retroactively. We know many of you will have questions about this update. We won’t be able to discuss your individual score or outcomes of specific contracts. We have listed some anticipated questions below, let us know if you have any additional questions.



FAQS:

 

Can I know what my new JSS is now before this launches?

We will not be able to provide you with your updated score until the JSS calculation refreshes at launch, in March.

 

Does this mean if I don’t get big contracts I’ll never be able to get a JSS of 100%?

Receiving stellar feedback on smaller budget jobs can still get you to a JSS of 100%. We are only changing the impact of jobs based on earnings. This means that strong client feedback on a higher-budget job could boost your score more than a lower-budget job. All other aspects of JSS will remain the same.

 

How will I know if it affects me?

The majority of freelancers will be affected positively by this change and will see an increase in their scores. We are sending out emails to those who will likely see a drop in their score once the new JSS calculation goes into effect in March. 

 

Can this affect me positively, will my JSS go up?

Yes! The vast majority of freelancers on the platform will see an increase or very little change in their scores. This is because you may have worked on one or more higher paying contracts in the past, and because you received great feedback that great feedback is being weighted more. 

 

Can I lose my JSS?

A small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS. This is because they had one or more jobs with no earnings. Positive feedback on contracts with no earnings will not be factored into JSS once we move to the new calculation. As a result, some freelancers won’t have enough outcomes to be eligible for a JSS until they successfully complete more jobs. Nearly all freelancers have scores after completing eight projects. 

 

How does weighting work specifically? 

To ensure fairness and avoid manipulation, we don’t share the specifics about how we calculate the Job Success Score. Thanks for your understanding.

 

So if I take a bigger job and get negative feedback that counts more than positive feedback on smaller jobs?
Yes. A job with higher earnings will always impact your Job Success Score (JSS) more than a smaller job. For example, feedback on a $1,000 job carries more weight on your JSS compared to a $20 job. However, receiving poor feedback on a job with more earnings can be balanced out by doing well on a job of the same size in the future or on a number of smaller jobs. 

 

Can I lose my Top Rated badge?

Yes, a small percentage of freelancers who see a decline in their JSS may drop below 90% and lose their Top Rated badge. This is because they received less-than-positive public or private feedback on one or more of their higher-paying contracts. Feedback on contracts with higher earnings will affect JSS more after this new change.

925 Comments
hanss7778
Community Member

This change absolutely makes sense. It will also help to reduce manipulation by clients who expect virtually free work but promising a five-star rating. 

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Joseph,

 

The great feedback you receive on small jobs will still positively increase your Job Success Score (JSS). You can still get to 100% JSS with smaller budget jobs; we are just giving more weight to jobs with higher earnings. This is similar to our practice of giving more weight to longer-term jobs than short ones.

vipulsh
Community Member
I lost my jss, it's better to move other platform. Upwork just making Freelancing more typical.
aleksandrhovh
Community Member

Petra R wrote:

Lena E wrote:

Just as longer-term contracts hold more weight in JSS calculations than shorter ones, we believe contract value should also hold significance in the calculation. By giving these jobs more weight, these jobs will have a greater influence on a JSS. 


Excellent news!

I have never understood why the JSS was NOT taking the size of the contract(s) into consideration!


Because it's not an accurate measure of the quality of work that someone puts forth? I'm amazed that people find this so difficult to understand.

 

The changes didn't affect my JSS, thankfully, but I'm curious how they got approved in the first place. Surely there are better ways to discourage under-bidding and low-quality work on the platform?

 

This change does nothing but punish 1) freelancers who are new to the platform, and 2) freelancers who take on smaller gigs, which are always going to exist.

 

Upwork is slowly killing its own platform for beginners. Has everyone forgotten the changes to Connects that made them paid? Beginners have to work for 20% less than what they bid already; now they also have to pay for Connects and worry about their JSS dropping when they take on low-budget projects? Wow.

 

How do you expect beginners to compete with top dogs while putting in higher bids? If they take on low-end work just so they can build a reputation on the site, their JSS will suffer. If they don't, their JSS will suffer for lack of any recent work completed.

 

This is counter-productive.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Randall,

 

There’s no penalty for only working small jobs. And receiving great feedback on smaller budget jobs can still get you to a JSS of 100%. This change only means that jobs with higher earnings carry more weight than small jobs when calculating your JSS.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Aleksandr,

 

Job Success Score is calculated to give more weight to jobs with higher earnings.

carol_thompson
Community Member

I am an editor and rarely does this field require long-term work and rarely are there high-paying jobs posted. 

 

Does this new way of rating take into consideration that there are some fields that don't offer long-term contracts or high pay?  It's not fair to freelancers like me who rarely see a job posted that meets these new criteria, and I'm sure there are other fields as well.

 

My score was 100% for a very long time, then it dropped to 92 and now 90.  Editing is highly competitive and it's not easy to get a bid award. Not only that but weeding out the many scams is time-consuming. 

 

We are penalized for non-responsive clients and for those who don't leave feedback as if we can control what others do.  Does Upwork take into consideration that there are scammers on here? People who will complain and rate low so that you feel compelled to refund the, only to find that they're using the work you did? 

 

I don't know if I'll hang around. I see my score tanking because I'm lucky if there a job posted for $300 in my field. And we pay the price for the lack of high-paying jobs. That's far from fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lesterb22
Community Member

got the same questions as you. my JSS was 88% now I checked it become 78%, while 2 weeks ago I had 2 clients with 5.0 feedback and $20 + earning... what did they do... I wasn't expecting this eaither. I'm all loaded up for my next week plan but this wasn't suppose to be like this.

feed_my_eyes
Community Member

Carol T wrote:

I am an editor and rarely does this field require long-term work and rarely are there high-paying jobs posted. 

 

Does this new way of rating take into consideration that there are some fields that don't offer long-term contracts or high pay?  It's not fair to freelancers like me who rarely see a job posted that meets these new criteria, and I'm sure there are other fields as well.

 

My score was 100% for a very long time, then it dropped to 92 and now 90.  Editing is highly competitive and it's not easy to get a bid award. Not only that but weeding out the many scams is time-consuming. 

 

We are penalized for non-responsive clients and for those who don't leave feedback as if we can control what others do.  Does Upwork take into consideration that there are scammers on here? People who will complain and rate low so that you feel compelled to refund the, only to find that they're using the work you did? 

 

I don't know if I'll hang around. I see my score tanking because I'm lucky if there a job posted for $300 in my field. And we pay the price for the lack of high-paying jobs. That's far from fair.


You're not being punished for taking lower-paying jobs, nor for clients who pay you but don't leave feedback (as long as these contracts aren't an extremely high percentage of your work). Your JSS becomes lower if your clients leave bad private feedback or if you have contracts in which no payments have been made. The new weighting policy means that you could get your JSS back up again more QUICKLY if you get good feedback on a higher-paying contract or if you have long-term clients, but it's NOT a requirement.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Aleksandr,

 

There’s no penalty for only working small jobs. New freelancers who receive great feedback on smaller budget jobs can still get to 100% JSS and become Top Rated. This change only means that jobs with higher earnings carry more weight than small jobs when calculating JSS.