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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
tanya-mikhaylova
Community Member

Hi Naina, 

 

I am in the exact same situation- only 5+ perviews in the last two weeks and on my stats page clients who would recommend me is higher than 90% and it hasn't dropped or changed since my JSS was at $100.

 

I am wondering if it is a bug? I have had zero no money spent contracts in the last year and zero complaints from clients. 

 

Can someone from Upwork weight in?

 

Tatyana

razrovladut
Community Member

Hello!

 

I am posting this question because I'm really confused here.

My Job Success Score dropped from 100% to 90% but all my reviews are 5 stars and also it says that "100% of my clients would recommend me" unde the My Stats tab.

 

I'm pretty worried about this since I just got my Top Rated badge a few weeks ago and I've worked pretty hard for this. I'm thinking this might be from some idle contracts that I completed milestones on a while back but are still open. I closed 3 of these jobs but I'm just wondering what's up with this?

 

Thanks,

Andrei

farahzaki_k
Community Member
Hello Tatyana,

Some of the clients may have left negative private feedback. That's why your JSS went down.

Farah
techyshubham
Community Member

This update is does not make sense! It does not take real world scenarios into consideration. One of my clients who I had been working with on Upwork for more than 2 years recently ended 2 contracts with a "not-so-good" feedback. She forgot to provide a key specification for a task and only realized when the work was complete. I offered her to update the work as per the new specification but she decided to end the contract along with another unrelated contract. I used my Top Rated perk to get the contract will the higher value not included in my JSS calculations, despite that this led to my JSS decrease from 91% to 58%! Upwork is just considering the bad feedback at the end and not the good work that I had done for over 2 years due to which the client continued to with me for 2+ years! Needless to say that my Top Rated badge also went away and it will take months to build a decent JSS again. These bad contracts will keep scaring my JSS for the next 6 months to 2 years now. Is that even fair!

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Shubham,

 

I'm sorry about the frustration the recent change in your Job Success Score created. Please note that the recent change isn't a result of the feedback you received on that one recent contract. I checked and while I won't be able to share any specific information in the Communuty, I can confirm the information our team provided on your support ticket is correct. You can follow up on the ticket and ask for further clarification and our agent will follow up and provide all the available information.

techyshubham
Community Member

Thanks for your response V. My concern is general though. Now freelancers will be forced to ask clients to end contracts in between and give a good feedback rather than running contracts for years and risking the JSS on long contracts. Especially in ongoing projects where the client usualy keeps you employed as long as results are good. Isn't weighted JSS similar to weigthed overall STAR ratings that Upwork used to have long back and was eventually dropped. Upwork certainly needs to come up with a better formula.

webdone
Community Member

Hello Everyone


As we know now size of the project determines its impact on JSS. But what if I make a refund of a small project? How will it impact my JSS. Because refunds used to impact badly before this new way of calculating JSS. 

Recently I started a contract with $25/hr but soon after logging  2.5 hours I realized that client can be troublesome and I am thiking about cancelling the project after making refund. $33 will be amount of refund. I think client will not leave good feedback that is why I think refund is a good option.

I already have one long term project going on which is 2 months old now.  So it can have good impact on JSS calculation this weekend.
Do you think refunding small amount project will impact my JSS badly?  Anyone had such experience recently?

petra_r
Community Member

Irfan A wrote:

I think client will not leave good feedback that is why I think refund is a good option.


Refunding won't lessen the impact of the poor feedback. Even though you had over 60 contracts, you don't have that many in your 6 months, 12 months or 24 month windows, so yes, one unsuccessful contract can mean a significant hit.

 


Irfan A wrote:

I already have one long term project going on which is 2 months old now.  So it can have good impact on JSS calculation this weekend.


The contract won't count as a long term contract until it's 3 months old.

webdone
Community Member

But the amount of contract is not very significant. It is only around $60. All my other contracts are way more than this on which I got good feedback. That is main point of my question.

webdone
Community Member

Hello Everyone

As we know now size of the project determines its impact on JSS. But what if I make a refund of a small project? How will it impact my JSS. Because refunds used to impact badly before this new way of calculating JSS. 

Recently I started a contract with $25/hr but soon after logging  2.5 hours I realized that client can be troublesome and I am thiking about cancelling the project after making refund. $33 will be amount of refund. I think client will not leave good feedback that is why I think refund is a good option.

I already have one long term project going on which is 2 months old now.  So it can have good impact on JSS calculation this weekend.
Do you think refunding small amount project will impact my JSS badly?  Anyone had such experience recently?

I posted it again because last time it was posted in wrong category.