Is it time to say Good bye to upwork?

[#1]

I think it's time to leave Upwork and look for other platforms or ways of working because of the greedy behavior of Upwork in the name of client security.

1. Proposal boost

This feature killed the opportunity for visibility for freelancers who cannot afford to buy connects.

2. Profile Availability Tag  Cost

You need to pay to stay visible to clients.  

3. Profile Boost

If there are rich guys paying upwork to display their profile on top, your profile has gone deep for the clients.

4. Connects Requirement Increased

They have increased the number of connects required to submit a proposal, it used to be 2 or more than this but now if you submit a proposal at a few projects, your monthly connects are gone. 

5. Connects required to accept the invitation

It used to be fine to upgrade the membership and get monthly connects to stay visible for the clients and receive invitations. But now the stupid feature of connects on accepting the invitation has killed the whole purpose of membership upgrade.

So it is better to search for other platforms.

[#2]

This platform has transitioned to a pay-to-play model. I understand that this change can be quite frustrating, but it is now the standard. As freelancers, it is important for us to adapt and move forward. Embracing diversification is essential for achieving success in our field.

[#3]

But eventually, they will keep increasing the charges behaving like the government and you will be paying a great portion of your hard-earned money just to buy connects. 

In $15, we get 100 connects. Can you calculate how many proposals can be sent in these connects? How many of these proposals will actually be accepted and turn into a project?

[#4]

And what is your view about a new freelancer from a poor background? or is the Upwork place only for rich guys?

[#5]

The situation is challenging, but not impossible. It's crucial to focus on a specific niche and excel in that area. While it will be difficult due to the need to purchase many connects, in the new Upwork ecosystem, spending money is necessary to earn money. Although Upwork is not exclusively for those with substantial financial resources, it certainly benefits those who are more established and have the budget to invest in connects.

[#6]

So basically upwork is having losses and wants to cover up with such cheap strategies. This is not an ecosystem, this is destroying ecosystem. 

[#7]

Upwork is a public company, so they need to keep making more money to satisfy their investors. This pressure comes from the stock market and people who own shares in the company. I get why they are making some changes, but I'm worried these changes might end up causing more harm than good. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

[#8]

Yes Upwork I'd public company and they must have to announce official or inform their users by mail if they are updating features and privacy policies. Where it is? If they are public company their investment come from public, they are taking service fees then where is a service? They have to inform before impect. Any big company always inform their user even before impect with clear details, business run with trust and clearity if want to run long way. And connects directly related to money they must have to inform this change where money, subscriptions or any other policy change it's under service from that they are taking fees. Right? 

[#9]

If they are asking money in exchange of job offer and not getting it's scam as per US law they written this on their official website.

[#10]

Some of that!. you have to have thousands of connections to apply to a job just because someone before you used the hated boosted proposals. And now you have to use connects to answer to an invite!. They didn't leave a space without asking for money.

[#11]

It's evident that the platform operates on a 'pay to play' model. As the company matures, there is mounting pressure to consistently surpass previous quarterly performances, inevitably driving prices upwards. This trend is observed not only on this platform but also among industry giants like Netflix, Google, and others.

[#12]

Yes, on average, you will spend 15-20 connects per proposal, which translates to approximately 5-6 proposal submissions. I understand and agree with you that this number is likely to increase. This model resembles Google's "PPC" (Pay Per Click), but in our case, it is "Pay Per Submit." We will observe how this evolves, as market pressure may drive Upwork to implement further changes.

[#13]

No problem with adapting if you can, no problem with leaving and be independent as well. Choose the best one for you.

And you can't say this place will be destroyed, we don't know the future. They actually succeeded to have some profitable months after doing the "changes", after having nearly a decade of constant losses.