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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
hiran_sarkar
Community Member

A few days back I read in an Upwork article that higher earnings can boost my JSS. Can someone tell me what amount is considered a high earning. Is the high earning calculated by considering my previous job earnings?

Thanks

JoanneP
Moderator

Hi Mrittunjoy,

 

It seems like you are referring to the job size, which is now factored into the JSS calculation. I'd recommend that you please check out this post to learn more about this.

nhatduy94
Community Member

My client offer me an unclear offer, I accepted it, then he end the contract without inform me in advance and we haven't had any works. It is $0. I guess he gave me bad private feedback.

Does $0 contract impact to JSS?

feed_my_eyes
Community Member

If he gave you bad private feedback, then yes, it could have an impact. But why would he do this if you didn't do any work together?

71a4ee34
Community Member

To clarify:

A job with a negative review that gets fully refunded. Does this affect JSS?

yodayee
Community Member

Not here to waste everyone's time on another JSS complaint. This is a recommendation to Upwork since JSS truly impacts our ability to land clients. 

 

Based on my understanding, JSS is mostly based on closed contracts. The only live contracts that impact JSS are long-term contracts, which means that contracts less than 3 months will not impact JSS. 

 

Context: I started on Upwork in January and landed 32 contracts since inception. I've closed 11 contracts and these 11 closed contracts account for less than 10% of my total Upwork earnings. Publicly, the reviews seem fine so I assume that 1 or two clients weren't willing to recommend me privately... fine. My issue is that <10% of my earnings has an outsized impact on my future work. >90% of my earnings has 0 impact on my future work until we reach the 3 month threshold.

 

This impact is real. Since dropping from 100% to 87% to 73% JSS, I've noticed my conversion rate on jobs have materially decreased.

 

The current system favors short-term projects rather than long-term engagements. Clients that are more likely to recommend me are more likely to stay on as current clients. Therefore, happy clients won't have any impact on my JSS for 90 days. Short term projects have immediate impact.

 

I'm OK with this but now I'm placed in a situation where I have to manufacture JSS in one of two ways: (1) go to all of my largest contracts and ask them to shut down a contract & review me just to boost JSS or (2) take on short term projects - which is hard since my JSS dropped to 73%.

 

In the end, I don't think it makes sense to have to 'game the system' - JSS should reflect our ability to provide a stellar service. If 90% of my earnings come from current clients, they should have a proportional share of JSS as this impacts my ability to land future clients.

 

Thoughts on this? Can we work towards a more fair system by including current contracts that have lasted less than 3 months & allocate JSS by earnings? I know that project size is taken to account but this is only for closed contracts + long-term contracts. We really need to think about the contracts that don't fit into either category, especially if 90% of my earnings fall into this other category...

 

Interested to get your thoughts.

andrew_croft
Community Member

Upwork isn’t interested in our input at all.

 
It’s been proven time and again.
 
Any posts here fall on deaf ears.
 
I simply inform all of my clients of all of the warts and pitfalls of the platform so they are openly aware that Upwork penalizes us for open contracts with no earnings, but little can be done about forcing clients to provide feedback.
 
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
 
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Yoda and Andrew,

 

Thanks for sharing your feedback. I'd like to clarify a couple of things:

 

- While long-term contracts and contracts with higher earnings have more weight in the freelancer's JSS, not having those contract will not result in JSS decreasing. 

- Open contracts, whether they have earnings or not, do not impact JSS negatively. Neither do closed contracts with no feedback from the client.

- Yes, a contract or a relationship will need to be active and have regular payments for a certain amount of time before it's considered long-term and starts contributing positively to JSS. That said, we have recently introduced a Mid-contract Feedback feature. While it's not currently included in JSS, that is something we're considering in the future.

andrew_croft
Community Member
Much too complicated.

The only score we require - and really the only one any client should be
looking at - is a score based on feedback.

We're not all on here 24/7 just to get jobs on Upwork - I have plenty of my
own clients - so weighing anything but completed projects is a waste of
everyone's time.

And the belief that we are supposed to get all of your customers to post
feedback for us is a pipe dream

That is truly what Upwork needs to work on.

A new mid-contract feedback requirement? Please STOP!

Please stop burying us in obscure calculations which lead to the confusion
and lengthy threads such as this.

Simply calculate the rating on closed projects - pure and simple.
marafx
Community Member

yes it does.