No feedback contracts no longer impact Job Success Score (JSS)

[mitchell-jason]

I am excited to announce a new change to the Job Success Score (JSS). We know that JSS is a hot topic. This post aims to provide transparency into the changes and answer any questions you might have. 

On November 8th, 2020, we updated the JSS calculation process to exclude contracts that ended without feedback. Before, if a freelancer or agency had a large number of contracts that ended without feedback, those contracts could have negatively impacted their JSS. 

What is JSS?

Your JSS measures and reflects your Upwork clients’ satisfaction with the projects you complete for them. You can view your score on your My Stats page and learn more about JSS here.

What does this mean?

We removed projects where clients didn't leave feedback from consideration in the JSS calculation in November. This means that it will no longer negatively impact your JSS if a client does not leave feedback at the end of a project. Note that, as a result of this change, a small set of professionals no longer had enough outcomes with different clients to earn a JSS. To minimize this impact, we reduced the minimum number of distinct clients required to earn a JSS from 3 to 2. 

What’s the problem with including contracts that end without feedback in the JSS calculation?

Picture a contract where a professional and a client work together, and at the end of it, the client does not leave feedback. Before the change, if the professional already had a high percentage of completed contracts without feedback, the professional’s JSS could have been negatively affected.

The original design was based on a study that found clients who had negative experiences would often avoid filling out the feedback form altogether instead of giving negative reviews. More recent analysis suggests this may no longer be true. As a result, we are changing the calculation to reflect today’s reality. 

How does this change affect you?

• If you had contracts before the change where a client did not leave feedback counting against your JSS, you may notice a boost in your score from this change. 
• If you do not have sufficient outcomes from at least 2 distinct clients, you may no longer meet the threshold for JSS, and you may see your JSS go away. Getting more jobs can help minimize this impact. 

What’s next?

This is just one of several changes we’re planning to implement in the coming months, so stay tuned!

This post itself is in response to your feedback that you want to be informed when changes are made. Thanks to everyone who has offered feedback on JSS communication through our customer surveys and social media, through the Upwork Community, and directly to our team. Be on the lookout for more changes to JSS and other aspects of the Upwork experience in the near future. 

We are all looking forward to this next chapter together! 

[paulhenry]

Great! This is my problem for years! Thank you!

[victorania]

Hello, I don't agree with this change because I have asked a lot of clients to leave a feedback but they didn't. It's not freelance's fault if client doesn't write a review.

We will see how it afects the score.

Thanks

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi David,

I won't be able to comment on an individual score or an impact of a specific contract on the score. However, agency JSS will continue to be calculated based on all contracts the agency's exclusive and non-exclusive contractors completed under the agency. If the agency doesn't have contracts with at least two different clients who left feedback, the agency may no longer meet the threshold for a Job Success Score and their JSS can go away until a new client leaves feedback. I would like to add that long-term relationships will continue to contribute positively to the score. 

[muhammadtoshi]

This policy would be apply for new contracts after 8 November, 2020 or also would be apply on previous project completed client ened those without feedback?

Before 8 November, 2020  ended contract without feedback will impact on new JSS calculation or not?

If previously eneded contract without feedback will aslo impact on JSS in this case what we need to do for maintaining our JSS before 8 November being applied this policy?

[linda11972]

Thank you so much!  This is something that always frustrated me when I did projects for people that smaller jobs because they just want to pay and leave. They don't want to waste their time. They don't know that this affects how people see how we are rated. This is appreciated!

Linda McAteer

[29350bfa]

Howdy Jason,

I'd like to start by saying, I love you, guys! I don't mean to compare freelancing platforms, but you guys are way more mature than Fiverr. I mean, I don't even have to send you any kind of feedback, and suddenly it's like you read my mind about certain things. Fiverr, on the other hand, acts like how fans 'terminate' celebrities' lifelong careers by digging up some old drunk tweet. It's ridiculous!

Anyway, I noticed that some people sign up to Upwork, and I'm the first person they hire, and we all know how even the simplest platform can be overwhelming to discover at first — assuming anyone will find the time. Hell, even movie directors, and video editors complained about the drastic interface change of Final Cut Pro X, since scientifically speaking, learning new things is a painful process, which reminds me of that Zombie Test scene from Resident Evil: Extinction. 🤣 It's one of the reasons I believe that many people don't bother to learn anything new, especially those who have a stable salary, which is like saying, "If my salary is always the same, why should I put in more effort?" Or, "If I were immortal, why would I bother waking up in the morning?" 

Keep up the good work, guys! Now I can gladly say that joining Upwork — just when I started feeling like I was getting eighty-sixed by Fiverr — is one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Cheers,
Ahmed Anssaien
IT Expert

[mardidi]

Great news! More important now more than ever as there are multiple long-term projects where the person who arranged Upwork with me is no longer there and others cannot access their account to close the contract and give comments! Thanks so much!

[p_walker-tulloch]

Thanks to Upwork for always finding innovative ways to help freelancers.

[p_walker-tulloch]

My issue is the Clients who come on here sneakily trying to take your work without paying. I think upwork should take a security deposit from Clients on fixed price contracts and stop allowing to use milestone.

[olivertembo]

That's great to hear. For a while now, my upwork has declined drastically. Most projects get closed without feedback. I'm pretty excited about the update.