Updates to Upwork Messages

[Akinkunle J]

There is something I noticed. There are a lot of job postings that are not intended to be filled.

Some jobs end up being closed without any hire after many freelancers have used their connects to submit proposals for that job.

Freelancers pay for connects. Freelancers pay Upwork service fee.

Why are the freelancers the ones bearing the whole brunt? I believe that if clients are made to pay a token of money before posting jobs, there will be a great reduction in 'vain' job postings.

Thank you.

[Bojan S]

Hi Akinkunle,

Thank you for sharing your feedback. And we understand some clients unfortunately will post jobs, never hire and never close their jobs. We know this is frustrating and we will continue to reach out to clients to encourage them to hire or remove their job. We do, of course, also recommend you closely review the client’s details, such as past hire rate, to help you decide whether to use Connects to submit a proposal for a project. To learn more about what you should be looking for in a job post, please check out this article.

Thank you! 

[Matthew M]

Is this message warning for clients in place yet? I was invited to a job yesterday and I applied for it. The client came back to me this morning with me his Skype ID. On my end, it was flagged in yellow with a note to "simplify conversations". I'm not going to give it to him, naturally. As you said, it's not freelancers responsibility to remind clients of the ToS.

[Vladimir G]

Hi Matthew,

I can confirm that the security feature you mentioned has been in place for a couple of years across all users, both freelancers and clients. Note that the TOS changes to Section 7 of the User Agreement you're referencing will go into effect tomorrow, on June 26, 2020. Rest assured that our communication plan includes notifying all users, clients included, about these TOS changes. Thank you for following our TOS and steps we advise on in order to work safely on Upwork.

[Dushyant S]

Hi Lena,

Has this been rolled out? Where do we get the information the number and everything?

Join a call using dial-in number and pin code. In addition to starting or joining a call from Upwork Messages, you will also be able to dial a number on your phone to join a call, if needed. 

Also, what does Upwork recommend for internet bandwidth? I am on 60 MBps plan already, I need to know if I need to upgrade.

[Pandora H]

I have a current Upwork client who is going to be deeply affected by this update and he's relying on me to keep him informed.

So when should we in the United States expect the website updates that are part of this TOS change on 6/26/20?

I mean in regards to help pages, the Upwork Message Center, and the TOS itself (though I recall hearing it's already been updated).

Clarification: I am referring to the many updates outlined in THIS thread specifically. And am particularly interested in these updates:

1. "Upwork Messages will display pop-ups and in-product messaging to let users know that sharing contact information before a contract is in place is not allowed."

2. "Help guides for setting up camera and mic access."

3. "Join a call using dial-in number and pin code."

[Valerie S]

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Pandora H wrote:

3. "Join a call using dial-in number and pin code."

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This is so majorly important (not that the rest of Pandora's points weren't) but this IS the actual lifeline Upwork...for very very many (more than you might imagine...if we're going to have no choice but to sink)! Can you please have this in place and working??? 

[Vladimir G]

Hi Pandora, Dushyant and Valerie,

To address the overarching questions Pandora posted:

1. We will continue to enhance the current educational messaging that appears in Upwork Messages when certain keywords are used, as well as use every opportunity we can to help our users learn about the “do’s and don’ts” of using Upwork.

2. & 3. We'll follow up here with an update once the message center features announced in this thread are rolled out.

[Richard R]

I am having multiple issues with the UpWork messenger. Here is just one that occurs when I share my screen. Other bugs include...

1) User unable to share screen but is able to share screen with other programs like Google Hangouts, Join.me, etc. They get an error message saying they are unable to share screen.

2) Audio can randomly stop working. Again this does not happen on the programs listed in #1.

[Vladimir G]

We're sorry to hear about the issues you've experienced, Richard. Our team will reach out to you directly via a support ticket soon to help troubleshoot and identify the core issue. In the meantime, please check the tips shared in this Help article since the issues you described might be caused by permissions issue with your camera and microphone settings.