Less and less job postings on Upwork.

[#1]

Hi there, 

I joined Upwork in 2018 and all this time I've been monitoring the stats, especially the number of clients who place their job postings each month.

1. Since the beginning of 2022 I've noticed that fewer and fewer clients post their jobs on Upwork. The number of job postings has dropped down drastically since than.

2. Another tendency that drew my attention to is that the average client's budget decreased as well.

3. I haven't been getting any invitations (not even a single one) for months... Before 2022 I'd have 2-3 invitations a week.

Has anyone else noticed that? and if so what are the possible reasons for that?

Is that because clients prefer not to hire Ukrainians or better to say freelancers based in Ukraine to stay on the safe side?

Many thanks,
V.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

IMO, these are the main reasons:

1. World economy

2. Dollar exchange rate - it's roughly 20% more expensive to hire for anyone who is not in the US than it was a year ago. That might cause clients to stick with their local talent outside of upwork.

3. Daily avalanche of new freelancers, diluting the job pool for everyone.

[#3]

Thanks for your laconic answer. I appreciate when people cut to the chase.

[#4]

I have noticed the same things, Vadym.

With 75% of all Upwork projects coming from American clients, I think I am seeing fewer high quality new projects (and being invited to far fewer projects) because a) the weak US economy and economic uncertainty reduces the entrepreneurial spirit to start new companies (my primary market) and b) people's savings have been depleted during 2+ year of COVID. American clients likely don't notice any negative effect due to the strengthening dollar; the opposite would (to some extent) be true for proposal pricing from non-American freelancers in US dollar terms.

And the latest TV advertisement for Upwork is so strange that it has probably had little effect on bringing in the people who are likely to become new clients.

I don't think the increased number of Upwork freelancers has any significant effect on any of these trends, which are really more about the number and quality of clients, not freelancers..

[#5]

Since Upwork rotates the search results to give everyone a chance, it would follow that the more freelancers there are, the less frequently you'll appear on the first page, and get fewer invitations as a result 

[#6]

A higher number of freelancers registered on Upwork may have an effect on some freelancers' experience at receiving invitations from clients to submit proposals, Christine, if the quality of new freelancers is higher than the existing pool of freelancers. We have no way of measuring whether or not that is true, but we do know Upwork's algorithms put what they think are "best match" freelancer proposals at the top of the list of proposals each client sees for their new project. 

Of the three numbered points in the original poster's post, there is no reason to believe that more freelancers would have any effect on either 1) the total number of new jobs posted nor 2) the budgets clients have for those jobs. 

[#7]

So you don't believe in the law of supply and demand, then?

[#8]

Not at all, Christine, not at all.

I just don't believe getting jobs or invitations on Upwork is all about simple supply and demand. The Job Success Score, if you believe it has any meaning at all when clients are choosing freelancers for their projects, throws simple supply and demand out the window in terms of the problems the original poster mentioned.  

And nothing you have said here has any influence on whether or not a significant portion of clients are recently offering lower budgets for their projects.

[#9]

---

Will L wrote:

I just don't believe getting jobs or invitations on Upwork is all about simple supply and demand. The Job Success Score, if you believe it has any meaning at all when clients are choosing freelancers for their projects, throws simple supply and demand out the window in terms of the problems the original poster mentioned.  

And nothing you have said here has any influence on whether or not a significant portion of clients are recently offering lower budgets for their projects.

---

I didn't say it was all about supply and demand, but I don't think you can pronounce that it's not having a significant impact. Even top-rated freelancers on Upwork are saying that they're receiving fewer invitations and fewer responses to their proposals. You don't think that any of them are lowering their prices in an effort to be more competitive, or that clients who receive 50+ proposals aren't going to think, "hmmm, there sure are a lot of people who are desperate for work, maybe I can get a bargain?"

[#10]

Life is not a bed of roses.

I'm new on Upwork.

But one of the moderators just said on Upwork there is no entitlement mentality. 

It's only a platform provided to you and me. You have to sweat to make  it work no matter how bad the global economy gets. We keep working harder and harder at getting jobs

[#11]

thanks for you rather philosophical answer! I agree with what you wrote. However I was looking for some ideas that are more constructive and from people who are old-timers here, no offence

[#12]

Upwork changed is search algorithm at the beginning of the year and again in June. Make sure that your Upwork Profile is updated as well as how you search for Jobs.

[#13]

That is interesting news I have not heard before, William T C.

What were the changes Upwork made to its search algorithm(s) this year?

[#14]

Hi William, could you please clarify how I can update my profile?

[#15]

William TC, what important changes has Upwork made to its search algorithm this year?

[#16]

I think it has to do primarily with 3 factors:

1. Instability in the global economy tends to make people 'hesitant' about spending money.  Lots of people taking a "wait and see" approach instead of spending right away: This is happening with car purchases, trips to restaurants, vacations, contracts/projects, everything.  It's just human nature for people to 'cling' to their money when the economy looks wishy-washy

2. Upwork is simply allowing almost any and everybody to simple login, create a profile, and call themselves a 'freelancer', so you have a constant FLOOD of new freelancers joining that have COMMON skills, like simply typing, proofreading, etc all competing for a decreasing pool of jobs.  Also, depending on the type of 'service' a freelancer is offerng, many of those skills are being replaced by AUTOMATION, removing the need for a job.  (Example: Companies may not need somebody to 'transcribe' a paper document to digital when they can just scan it and run it through OCR software.)

3. The new 'search' algorithm of 'rotating' profiles to give 'everybody' a chance is actually turning off some clients, because often times the 'best' matches for a client's search are NOT what is being displayed on the first pages, but instead, Upwork is showing them freelancers that need work and should be 'given a chance' at the top of the list.   And it's pretty BAD: I've put in search terms for my industry and often seen freelancers with Job Success Scores under 50% showing up on the first page of the results, while Top Rated folks with the same skills are 3-4 pages down in the results.  The problem is that some new clients see TV commercials for Upwork highlighting 'top rated' and 'expert vetted' talent and decide the 'try' the site.  However, when they get here and type in whatever they are searching for, the search results often come back with 'junk' profiles at the top of the list.  Once a client sees that, they have no reason to post their job because, according to the search results, UW doesn't have the type and quality of talent they are looking for.  I think Upwork is running away clients by showing them freelancers they want the client to 'try' instead of showing the client freelancers they would be ready to HIRE. You have to show customers what SELLS, not what you think they should buy. 

[#17]

If your Point 3 is correct, CJ A, that is bad for both Upwork and higher-quality freelancers.

And it would account for new clients sending out fewer invitations, if what they are seeing when searching for the "best" freelancers is a simple rolling rotation of freelancers, regardless of experience, skills and qualifications. It would also make the Job Success Score even less meaningful than before if clients can't include in their search criteria minimum JSS's they will accept.

[#18]

Yes. That is exactly what I have seen.  When they started 'changing' the search, I one day did a search for 'Java', and depending on the 'roll of the dice', I could get a full first page back of freelancers that had earned no money and worked no jobs, and even worse: Freelancers that had worked jobs but had tanked their Job Success Scores.  I remember seeing a freelancer with a JSS at about 34% at the top of the list on the first page, and programmers that were 'expert vetted' and 'top rated/plus' were at the bottom of the first page and buried down on other pages. Now, if a new client is logging on to the platform, I do believe they ARE going to try to find freelancers that look the 'most reliable' - which is why those job success scores and badges do HELP....if Upwork doesn't 'bury' them down in the search results.  A client who is NEW to the platform is about to 'take a chance' on spending money here, so you don't offer them a freelancer with a 34% job success score at the 'top' of the list.  Who on earth wants to hire somebody that only gets the job 'right' 1/3 of the time?   It is a complete Marketing FAIL.    I understand UW believes they are 'helping' freelancers get 'exposure' doing this, but they are TANKING their business.  Their platform exists to attract SALES, new clients, and produce money, not to help everybody 'get exposure' that wants it.  It's the freelancer/business owner's job to create their own 'exposure' by standing out.   I have also seen lots of incomplete profiles showing up in search results, where the freelancer was too lazy to even provide a 'headline' explaining the service they offer.  Other profiles showing in the list are riddled with grammatical errors and TYPOS or had foolish images in place of real photos.  That's not a good impression either.   If a freelancer can't even spell the job they are looking for, they shouldn't be posting a profile requesting that job. It makes the platform look like it's loaded with unqualified amatuers when those types of profiles are pushed 'front and center' for new clients to see.

Personally, I think if a profile is incomplete or if a freelancer has acquired a BAD job success score, their profile needs to be HIDDEN out of the results until they resolve the issue.  Nobody with a JSS under 50% should be anywhere in the search results be 'advertised' to potential clients. If you can't even bother to type in a profile headline explaining the service you offer, then your profile needs to be hidden.  I think they need to start REVIEWING and approving new freelancer profiles, the way they do project catalogs, to make sure they are POLISHED, clean, and presentable for client review before allowing them to go 'live' where everybody can see them. If your profile is incomplete, doesn't make any sense, or is loaded with typos, or is using a cartoon character instead of a real photo, it gets REJECTED until you correct the issues and produce something that looks professional and appropriate for client viewing in the search results.

In other words, Upwork needs to raise the QUALITY of who they allow on the platform and more clients will return.

[#19]

Actually, I came to Upwork because I read somewhere that they reviewed the freelancers' profiles. I thought the screening was the reason Upwork had better clients than other platforms (and I was not interested in doing anything for $5). I thought it was for professionals. But I've been realizing that they accept pretty much everyone.

I even saw this advice for beginners on the internet: "You can offer this service without even learning graphic designing. All you need is access to Canva, and you can create all of these things using free templates. Before you send your proposal, prepare a few samples on Canva and share them with the bid. This way, you will have a great chance of landing a job at Upwork."

I thought... well, if I was a client and I received +50 proposals I would get bored of doing image-searching on google just to verify that they are not fake designers.

And I can imagine the same is going on in other fields, such as translation, we've all seen people with terrible English skills offering translation services... 

[#20]

$5 or $5000, Upwork gets paid either way and they seem fine with it. I think they should do some post acceptance vetting honestly. I go through artist profiles and find obviously stolen work, or stock photos that have been outlined and called illustrations all the time.

[#21]

A couple weeks ago I saw a project for web design on Project Catalog, the images of the project were nothing but a copy-paste of a WordPress theme called Neve. They did't even customize it with their own graphics. I don't think using templates is a bad thing, I've used them myself because I'm not a web designer, but I tell clients first and would never showcase a template as "my work".

[#22]

Your point 3 makes a lot of sense. And as Will said if accounts for the fewer invitations from clients, or fewer jobs being posted.

So the main reason was changes to the search algorithm. I remember you raised this point on another thread too, and I agreed. Only thing I don't understand is, is the search working as it should, or is it a bug which is causing this? Because I think a couple months ago or so, people were demanding UW to fix this bug with the search, which was causing unrelated and unqualified profiles showing up at the top.

Basically what you're saying is search algo has an issue and it should push better freelancers and demote the lower quality ones, but then in the end you said UW needs to control who they let into the platform so that clients return. Why not just fix the search?

[#23]

I noticed same

[#24]

There are fewer jobs, I agree. I think it's a combination of several things:
1. People see the Upwork commercials and think it's easy to make money being a freelancer, even if you don't have any training, studies, or experience (like hey I can be an administrative assistant or a translator how hard can it be?) by the time they realize it's not easy and they are probably never going to make a decent amount of money, they have probably spent a little money on connects or if they were lucky they get one job and stay a few more months.
2. These people who stay a few more months enter the rotation of freelancers offered for the jobs, making the customer less aware of other freelancers with more experience.
3. There is a recession, and people are looking to pay less for jobs (worldwide).
4. I also think this boosting connects thing doesn't help either, even if you think that clients hire the most experienced freelancers, I don't think they review more than 50 profiles offered on each job. 

[#25]

It also doesn't help Upwork started doing this stupid bid for jobs with connects. Keep it free, you already charge enormous fees on earnings. Don't montetize on peoples bidding. Let their skills do the bidding. Otherwise you are going to just have people using this more and more to get clients and sign contracts offline.