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

mitchell-jason · ‎10-21-2020

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!

VladimirG · ‎11-08-2020

Vikram P wrote:

I want to ask a question that if the client gives a feedback with stars but does not give comments on the feedback will it be removed too. I had one client whom I earned more than 3000 USD . He gave the feedback stars but did not leave comments on it.

Hi Vikram,

In the scenario you proposed the public and private ratings the client had left do count as feedback, regardless of the lack of written feedback.

hana-whitfield · ‎11-08-2020

Thank you for this validating and very encouraging news! I had one client who was very pleased with the work I did for him but he did not leave feedback for a different reason altogether. I thank you guys up at the top for having our backs and helping us as much as you do. I see it happening, experience it, and thank you all!

lopezmluisa28 · ‎11-08-2020

Thank you for this good news. 🙂

kreativekopy · ‎11-08-2020

This is a much needed change. Good call.

slbeagan · ‎11-08-2020

Hi Jason, I had to bail on freelancing for most of this year because I was sick. I lost a long-term client because I couldn't meet their tight deadlines. I didn't even check to see if they left feedback, but it would probably be very good. I definitely did not leave them feedback because there is a time limit for doing that. They were a wonderful team to work with.They deserve good comments. I also had a new client and we were just getting going when I got sick. I didn't read her feedback or give her any either. Is there any way to revisit these contracts after all these months and leave them some feedback?

In addition, you mentioned two distinct clients giving feedback. I had the same two long-term clients for years. (One is the contract that ended because I was sick and the other is still open and active.)

I didn't need to look for anything else for a long time. Plus I had the short-term one that I had to give up on.

Regards,

Sandra Lee

hannah_old · ‎11-08-2020

sometimes the easiest way to collect on a funded milestone is to ignore them once you've sent the payment request. If you don't have a revision request pending, then you get the money after two weeks. By hounding the customer, you're opening yourself up to having a revision request sent again even if there isn't anything more to do. My policy is that I'll do one set of revisions no questions asked. The second one, you'd better have a good reason. Third one? Uh, nope.

graceworks11 · ‎11-08-2020

I agree with this completely. I've had a few clients completely new to Upwork, who have never used the platform and have decided after receiving the work (which was, in all honest, as perfect and top quality as it could be) that they nolonger wanted to pay/honor the agreement. This was when my job success score was 90%+ as well and I had multiple raving reviews.

After contacting support and complaining, Upwork favored the client! I was treated quite inferiorly....

jordanarufo · ‎11-08-2020

This is good news! Yet, would it be possible to include a summary of how our jss is computed for the given period? A summary that lists these percentages in one sheet/page and doesn't need to scroll up and down and go anywhere else within our profile. This will definitely help us, new freelancers, to understand how it works.

For example, I have 2 long-term projects and a couple of one-time projects completed the past weeks. They gave me 5 stars for completed jobs, and I don't see in Stats where are those reflected. I also have 0% on Long-term clients, even though these are like more than a month old now. And today, my jss is lowered.

youngscott · ‎11-08-2020

OMG, I can't believe the UpWork product team took the time to finally realized that just because client does not leave feedback does not mean a freelancer has completed the job successfully. THANK YOU, from a successful freelancer since 2008 - through this platform.

Also: When a client releases the funds, they think that is all they have to do, and as a freelancer you have to continue to remind them to close out the project, and show them how. This has been a waste of my work time.

bestmindscape · ‎11-08-2020

Thanks a ton !!!!

Only time will tell us if it is the right move. For the time being, it is going to help a lot of freelancers especially those who workes on fewer projects at a time. It also helps a freelancer to apply for a job without judging clients' previous feedback sharing trends.