Having trouble getting jobs since the Coronavirus?

[blazewriter]

I have been with Upwork for years, but in the last couple of months, my jobs have practically stopped. Does anyone else have this problem?

[versailles]

---

Michele L wrote:

but is Upwork considering this in the JSS? I mean i have quite a few contracts in the waiting because clients are afraid to even start them? I also got 1 cancelation, and my JSS dropped from100 to 92 ever since, also it´s more than apparent that getting work is harder and harder.

Is upwork taking this into account?? 

---

You already asked this in the JSS thread and an asnwer was given to you.

[michelejean]

can´t seem to find the thread. But thank you for that very astute reply by the way......

[versailles]

---

Michele L wrote:

can´t seem to find the thread. But thank you for that very astute reply by the way......

---

Click on your photo on the upper-right corner and you'll see all your messages in the forums.  

[josephjohn_78]

Corona virus is starting to make freelancers life ridiculously bad. Since most of the clients are from USA, freelancers are starting to loose their job. One of my long term client just ended my contract. An other client from NYC is planning to end the contract by next week. I have been working with this client for over 6 years. I can’t blame them. They have no other options. I’m from India. We are on “strict lock down” for 21 days. Since we are so-called “freelancers”, there is NO job security for us. God only knows what will happen after this pandemic. I have no idea how to put food on table from now onward. I feel like I’m having a panic attack.

I’m a Top Rated freelancer with over 15K hours. Honestly, I can’t find many genuine jobs. Too many scam jobs.

To my fellow freelancers who lost the jobs due to Corona virus, stay strong and hang in there!

[wetinkers]

Hello,

There are two things I see have changed and I just want to make sure if it's just me or everyone is feeling this. I've been part of UpWork since 2015. Never in these 4 years have I sent like 40 proposals and not gotten a job.

I am a graphic desginer and lately, all the job post requestings logos for example, have project budgets of 10-15$. Consistenly. That wasnt the case some months before. All budgets are ridicolously low. Its starting to feel like **Edited for community guidelines**

Also, I see that in 5 minutes, there are like 20 proposals for a job. But that I think is because everyone is quarantined and have moved online. Right?

So what are your thoughts on this? Are you going through the same?

[growmyretail]

Good observation.

Well here is what happened to me:
I am using Upwork now as a safety net rather than a contingency plan.
Applying for jobs 2 weeks ago. landed 2 small jobs, and funnily enough I obtained a new high ticket client through my venture outside of Upwork. I was afraid my business would slow down, but I have the opposite. 
The moment I started applying on Upwork, I just had someone e-mail me begging me to consult with him for his business. (word of mouth and referenced by other clients of me)

Not entirely certain if that enthusiasm will last on Upwork, but I got rid of the hardest part on UpWork - landing your first jobs and getting 5-star reviews. So I am absolutely driven to scale that up.

It will boil down to what you're offering. As I am more on the financial think tank side, and reimagine ventures  | investment banking and consultancy | building different business frameworks, it seems a lot more people now (not on Upwork just yet) called me to seek advice and hire me. 
As you mentioned, the landscape shifted with COVID-19. And now I see more and more companies asking me to re-structure their current situation.
On UpWork I set my hourly rate at 65USD/hour which is lower than my actual rate. But it didn't seem to scare people at all to at least talk to me. 

People still need designers or graphics. But they most likely think to spend less than before. Even tho that thinking is wrong as graphics/logo and all sorts are exactly where you should spend money to streamline/add multiple touchpoints in your brand strategy.

A lot of times, many are trying to cut corners now, sacrificing on categories they should not. 
Those decisions are often driven by emotion but justified with their own logic, which not always makes sense.

[jaiswalr]

When can we see the regular inflow of Jobs as was there before Covid-19

[jennifervh]

I've felt a big difference, hoping it's temporary. I've had a flurry of low-quality invitations to interview: 2 academic fraud, 1 trying to circumvent Upwork (I'm guessing, their account was closed before I could respond), several that I keep checking back in on and see they've never hired anyone, some low-ball expectations.

Since last spring, after having had time to build some history and reviews here on Upwork, I've been able to find good quality projects pretty quickly and consistently. But I'm having a major dry spell for about four weeks now. 

[colettelewis]

It's not so much what has happened in Upwork since this pandemic took hold, but what has happened globally. 

Upwork has always rotated job invitations  and some  freelancers have retained the clients from those introductions. So from that POV, it seems to be the same.

However, I am not sure that Upwork is doing itself a big favor at this time by accepting so many new freelancers, who are clearly not up to the mark, especially when there are simply not the jobs to go  around. 

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Red D wrote:

Hello,

There are two things I see have changed and I just want to make sure if it's just me or everyone is feeling this. I've been part of UpWork since 2015. Never in these 4 years have I sent like 40 proposals and not gotten a job.

I am a graphic desginer and lately, all the job post requestings logos for example, have project budgets of 10-15$. Consistenly. That wasnt the case some months before. All budgets are ridicolously low. Its starting to feel like freelancer dot com.

---

You're right, the majority of clients on Upwork do seem to expect logos to cost $30 or less, but I think that's been the case for years, not just the past few weeks. I would imagine that you've probably been getting better results than most because you offer complete branding, but unfortunately, I don't think that there'll be many new businesses starting up (or old businesses doing rebrands) in the current economic climate. If I were you, I'd rewrite my profile to focus on a different area of graphic design. 

[danastere]

What I’ve seen is a big number of clients with unverified payment, until recently that was rare.
50+ proposals - becoming very common, and it’s not advantageous to someone who actually takes the time to write a custom proposal.

Bonus: I got 2 invites, they wore all nice and polite in asking me if I would work for 3$ dollars an hour, that’s new.

Upped my rate, not sure if that was a good move, but i know the value i provide. 

[167bedac]

> What I’ve seen is a big number of clients with unverified payment, until recently that was rare.

I'm not sure if this is the case for all the clients you see.. But I might have an explanation.

I'm also a client on Upwork (which is why I initialy signed up). The inboarding process of a client doesn't mention anything about adding a payment method, if it did I missed it. I got prompted about adding one just before I made an offer to my first hire. Posting a job on the other hand was something I couldn't miss, almost unavoidable. 

[sanjuparmar]

Hay Red, 

Same here, I was closing a job on every 5 to 10 proposal max, But from the last two months I have used more than 400 Connectors but not a single job closed. Even not getting a reply from the client. You are right. But I see Job posted most frequently than previously it was added. 

[trevor_lowe]

If you submit 40 proposals with not a single job offer, you are doing it wrong.

[chris_bannu]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to hear some of your opinions. I'm not necessarily worried (yet), but it's a good to think things in advance. How are you feeling this crisis?  Are your freelance businesses being impacted, and do you feel that there aren't as many projects as before?
Personally I haven't taken any new clients for quite a while, as I am still working on some projects I started way before the pandemic, but I will soon be finishing them, and I wonder what to expect 🙂

Stay safe nd best of luck.

[zackwrites]

We all thought freelancing would rise. We were wrong. I have clients all around the globe, so I am not worried. 3 of my biggest clients in New York have halted their business - but, things will go back to normal. Started here. Bad timing. But still got a job (6th proposal). I get replies from employers. That's encouraging. At least...

For those who write long-form proposals (you know what that means: researching, writing, editing - spending a good hour on one proposal), are frustrated. Because a lot of bizarre jobs being posted. Albeit this will go away. But for now, we all need to hang in tight.

[c16d32a8]

Yes, it has been 2 weeks since I got new project. I am applying to projects regualry but not receiving any response from clients. When I check the job posts I applied for, clients didn't hired anyone in majority of projects. 

[varungs]

Well guys, this is how the labour market works. Your wages are a mere function of the demand and supply for labour. There has been a pretty large supply shock, which means as freelancers, you have two options (if you want to maintain your old level of daily work). 

Either you price yourself lower in order to match the new wage equilibrium. Or (and I recommend this option), step up your game. This involves crafting better proposals, working longer and harder on each product, and keeping your skills updated. COVID-19 will not ruin your income provided you are willing to do these things. It is economically impossible.

[dena-standley]

I had come to post a similar question. I didn’t bid often because I had a nice supply of long-term clients both on and off-site. When COVID hit, clients either had to slow the work or went dark altogether. Prior to this, I probably relieved feedback from 2/3 of the jobs I bid on and received 1/2 the bids. There is no arrogance in that as I only bid on jobs that were a close match to my niche. Now, I have sent over 16 bids in the past few weeks and landed 1 job. Crickets on everything else. I am top-rated, I customize every proposal. I re-evaluated my profile; etc. I assume it is the new influx of freelancers who are willing to work for a much lower rate. Like others have mentioned, though, when I go back through my proposals many of them show 0 hires. So, are clients posting jobs and never bothering to fill them at a higher rate than they once did?

[cricketj63]

Yes, I am having the same problem. The projects I am seeing now seemed to offer smaller rates, but I agree have a huge amount of people bidding. After fees are deducted, I feel like I am in the negative with my account.

What can be done?

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Teresa J wrote:
Yes, I am having the same problem. The projects I am seeing now seemed to offer smaller rates, but I agree have a huge amount of people bidding. After fees are deducted, I feel like I am in the negative with my account.

What can be done?

---

I agree with Varun's post above. When faced with increased competition, you only have two options: 1) Raise your game, or 2) lower your prices. 

[surinder87]

I am also facing the same issue plus paying heavily on connects. It has become very hard to get good jobs. 

[shafqatmiu]

I am also facing same issue. purchasing connects every week. I am top rated with 100% job success but not getting invites and interviews on submitted proposals. 

[cricketj63]

Lowering the prices means giving it away for free since the rates are lower already.

[lysis10]

---

Teresa J wrote:
Yes, I am having the same problem. The projects I am seeing now seemed to offer smaller rates, but I agree have a huge amount of people bidding. After fees are deducted, I feel like I am in the negative with my account.

What can be done?

---

Some other ideas apart from the others' answers:

1) Learn something new

2) Take time to relax 

3) Practice some old skills that maybe got rusty <~~~ dis what I'm doing

4) Build something different <~~~ dis I'm doing with sis who is turning out to be really good at the marketing thing. I forgot how much I hate being server admin/support though. 😐

5) Find other income streams where you might need to build up before seeing significant income

6) Play video games all day

7) Poop post on social media pretend to be a nurse and watch everyone say "thank you for your service." <~~ dis is me and it amuses me