Job size will now be factored into your JSS

lenaellis · ‎02-03-2020

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 work. We 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.

filip_knezevic · ‎03-02-2020

Unfortunately, there is always a reason. Probably poor private feedback for your last job in Feb.

filip_knezevic · ‎03-02-2020

Nothing changed for me with this change. I can see my score was updated yesterday but score is the same. At least, it didn't drop.

marafx · ‎03-02-2020

If a client leaves less than 5 stars on public he might as well have left a bad on private.
Communication is the key to all issues, even to get a work done better.

narogn · ‎03-02-2020

The lie is that my success rate is 80%, and it's easy to prove to anyone who knows what the percentages are. Either call JSS by another name or stop posting falsehoods. I have completed all the jobs so far successfully, who can come up with the truth that the success rate is 80%

bigtomjp · ‎03-02-2020

This is another bad change in JSS. The fact that the rating system is not transparent means clients cannot really trust the JSS. Large lengthy contracts have a lot that can go wrong that is often not controllable by freelancer.

What is weighted more, money or time? Is it $/day? Is a $200 project completed in one day worth more than a $1000 project completed in a week. Many clients like to leave contracts open for long term work. This change starts to hurt freelancers and disturb clients more than the platform already does. This will only result in more closed contracts with no feedback.

JSS is a joke right now and this makes it worse. When I consider hiring someone, the JSS is not really a factor and it will be less so in the future.

This is creating a bad marketplace and reminds me of eBay. We will end having to give away work for free or pay clients to do work as they will figure out they strongly manipulate the JSS. Not all clients in Upwork are honest or reasonable and this change will make it worse.

Thankfully there are other platforms.

narogn · ‎03-02-2020

Either the computing method so far has been a failure or it is a new one.
Choose for yourself when you have failed.
How to explain that there is so much difference between 95% and 80% each.

bigtomjp · ‎03-02-2020

I agree with Lukas 100%. So many things wrong with the JSS and this is a step in the wrong direction.

A score without transparency is a useless score to the client. Private feedback that affects a public score is public.

narogn · ‎03-02-2020

What is the business policy, I can guess the next step.
Buy a JSS - One percentage point will cost $ 50.

andrew_croft · ‎03-02-2020

Exactly what Tom wrote above is why I reamed Upwork in January when I saw that crap statistic and delved into it further to find out just how on earth such a quality site can provide such crap results.

The major issue is - clients leaving projects open - and clients not following up at the end of projects.

Now, leaving projects open... OK, I have a few and I have regular ongoing amounts applied to them. So these should not factor negatively - these are REGULAR ONGOING PROJECTS WITH BILLINGS.

But Upwork does not have a handle on **Edited for Community Guidelines** who post projects and do not follow through. This is completely unacceptable when Upwork charges us to bid on these projects.

So, Upwork... meh. Nice try. But still a lot of work to do to stop pissing us off. We're all still mostly pissed off.

kochubei_valeria · ‎03-02-2020

Thank you for your questions, Crucita:

a) To ensure fairness and avoid manipulation, we don’t share the specifics about how we calculate the Job Success Score.

b) Total earnings on the contract are considered regardless of how long it took to complete the contract. That said, long-term relationships will also continue to count positively in your JSS calculation.