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?

[michaeljajou]

Hi Everyone,

I've been active on Upwork since June 2019, and so far I've had a tremendous year. I am graduating college this year, and things were going so well that I decided to make Upwork a full time job after college. However, with the current state of the world right now, I had some questions. This is my first post to the community, so I'm still new to this. 

With the current state of the world and COVID-19, how will freelancers on Upwork be effected by this? Will we see a tremendous decrease in possible jobs and contracts (I am a mobile app developer.) As I begin my career after college, I want to be prepared for what is ahead of me.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this based on predictions, prior experience, or just any advice in general.

Thank you! 

[douglas-picketts]

Hi Michael, 

I think it should be evidently clear that while freelancing is a good way to make additional money it should not be your career choice. In times like this, there is no safety net for people in the "gig" economy and no government assistance. My advice is to get in at a company on the ground floor when this is all over and use Upwork as a way to grow your income. Just my opinion but for all those out of work, the people with social assistance are in a much better position than those without. 

[jongordon_ca]

Been around a while too.... currently burning through connects with 0 responses, job quality has seemed to drop (other than the usual "build me a time traveling robot" Budget:$10 type jobs)

I'm starting to wonder if something is broken?

It could also be that with everyone sitting around at home in quarantine there is a large influx of low quality job posts and a reduction in high quality work.

[daydreamdesigns]

I can build you a time travelling robot for $10. He is also invisible 😃

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Jon G wrote:

Been around a while too.... currently burning through connects with 0 responses, job quality has seemed to drop (other than the usual "build me a time traveling robot" Budget:$10 type jobs)

I'm starting to wonder if something is broken?

It could also be that with everyone sitting around at home in quarantine there is a large influx of low quality job posts and a reduction in high quality work.

---

[rafsun_ug]

Same here! No responses for about a month! "Coronavirus" could be a reason for not getting any responses. But did you notice the reality here? It seems that there are huge numbers of freelancers in the field now. 95% of Jobs are receiving 50+ proposals within a few minutes, some are within even 5 minutes, whatever the job...whatever the payment method - verified or non-verified! Luckily I had some old clients but most of them also have disappeared for a month! I believe "Coronavirus" is a part of the reason. But at the same time, I don't think Coronavirus" is 100% responsible! I am not sure but maybe there are not many or regular clients here now, and people are trying to earn something staying at home and start to open an account in UW or other sites and they are applying! So it's a tough time for the clients too who are posting jobs here as they are getting too many proposals, the result is most of the clients are not hiring anyone! And as a Freelancers, I am feeling that I need to be the luckiest one to get a response among those 50+ Freelancers.

Anyway, STAY HOME! STAY SAFE! 

[blazewriter]

Good response. For the first time, I find it hard to get jobs. Even when I
think I'm getting one and have had interaction with the person, after a
while, I never hear from them again. Which rarely happens. It has been a
month since I've had a job other than a little $50 one.

[rocio-gomez]

I 100% agree with your response. That being said, it seems like a good number of the posts are "spam" employers as well as freelancers in need (and I'm not judging) who are posting their talents as "jobs".  I wish Upwork would have a way to filter at least the fake job posts who specifically provide their contact information in an attempt to grab vulnerable freelancers.  While I don't flag the freelancer's posting their talents, I did flag a fake "potential employer" because he asked for work outside of Upwork.  

I'm just mentioning this in case it helps any freelancer, especially during this trying time to fall prey to scammers who have no regard for anyone but themselves whatsover. Stay safe everyone and best of luck in the job hunt. I do believe we'll all be fine; it's only a matter of being patient. 

[sharoonsrss]

Hello, I SEO and Digital marketing person I am very confused that I could not have a client for a while is this due to coronavirus or something else please help. Is coronavirus hurting the freelancer project as well?

[petra_r]

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sharoon s wrote:

Hello, I SEO and Digital marketing person I am very confused that I could not have a client for a while is this due to coronavirus or something else please help. Is coronavirus hurting the freelancer project as well?

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According to your profile you have never won a contract at all, not just "for a while."

You are in a super overcrowded category and your profile is weak, so that is more likely the reason. Coronavirus is making things harder for everyone as well.

[denzilotieno99]

I'm top rated. Before the Covid-19, I used to send proposals and land jobs in a couple of hours or a day at most.

Since last week, I have sent 22 proposals and none of the clients has hired any freelancer.

I recently sent out a proposal, the client sent me a message then left. It has been right days now and nothing.

I keep on staring at my laptop hoping a good job will pop up but I only spot them a few minutes later.

Even though Covid-19 could be responsible to some extent, I feel that Upwork is also not doing their job.

There are so many fake Jobs nearly every minute. When I talk about fake, it doesn't mean these are jobs with the normal signs of scams.

I mean jobs that are lying there without no action. It's like these are freelancers testing the Upwork algorithms using their client accounts.

This must stop and UPWORK needs to figure out how.

[petra_r]

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Denzil O wrote:

This must stop....

---

You need to stop spamming the same post all over the Internet. Once is enough

[denzilotieno99]

You have the right to pass and leave. I'm trying to get what other people have to stay to see how I can tackle the problem.

All your replies have not helped so kindly pass my posts and focus on others. I have the right to ask and know more from this community.

Spamming is you trying to reply to all of my posts here. Give me a break for chrissake. Focus!!!!

[blazewriter]

It’s a possibility. But at any rate. Jobs are way way down

[tomzilla1]

Quality jobs have stopped for almost a year now, it's their algorithm update in May of last year. COVID19 brought a lot of $10, $50 jobs though, a lot of Fiverr "clients". I really hope new leadership at Upwork figures this out - I'm getting a lot of junk proposals every day.

[jwresearch]

How did the algorithm change?

[tomzilla1]

Well nobody can't really say for sure but it just felt to me there was a change in the alg. They introduced a lot of new things around that time I think too.

[fd0ccad7]

Has anyone else experienced a sudden drop in their JSR since the 3/27 update because of active campaigns that you're not working on?

I've had 88%-90% success rate for a few months in a row. I had no new feedback or gained / closed any new contracts. The only change is that 3 out of my 4 active projects have asked me not to work on their projects as their businesses are on hold. And suddenly I'm at 78%, making it much harder to apply / replace anything. 

Looking for feedback and guidence on this from the community. 

Thanks,

F

[AveryO]

Hi Farbod, 

We changed the way your Job Success Score (JSS) is calculated to give more weight to jobs with higher earnings. Previously, a $20 job typically carried the same weight as a $1,000 job. Now, a $1,000 job will be weighted more than a $20 job. You may read more about it here.

[petra_r]

No, of course your JSS can not be affected by COVID 19.

Your clients pausing ongoing contracts also has nothing to do with it. 

1. With contracts falling out of your calculation window and no new positive outcomes being added, and poor outcomes in your calculation window start to weigh more heavily.

2. As Avery explained, the JSS now weighs bigger contracts more heavily than smaller ones.

[a_dihangwane]

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Clients stopped replying during this terrible period. Contracts are left open and inactive.

Is our score going to be affected if you decide to close contract? 

[petra_r]

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andrada elena d wrote:

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Clients stopped replying during this terrible period. Contracts are left open and inactive.

Is our score going to be affected if you decide to close contract? 

---

No, it does not affect your JSS to close contracts if you have been paid any money under those contracts. It also does not affect your JSS to leave them open. You only have 3 open contracts showing on your profile anyway.

You were talking about this long before virtually nobody outside China had heard about COVID-19, why are you now making it about COVID? 

[a_dihangwane]

Thank you for your reply!

I am not making it about COVID, I was just asking a question.

1 client dissapeared because of this global situation as he told me to stop working because his business is affected and never came back to replying. thats all. 

[petra_r]

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andrada elena d wrote:

1 client dissapeared because of this global situation as he told me to stop working because his business is affected and never came back to replying. thats all. 

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It is not affecting your JSS either way. Just leave it open for now or close it, neither makes a difference.

[michelejean]

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?? 

[versailles]

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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?? 

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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]

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Michele L wrote:

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

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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]

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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.