US Only jobs filter

[49c41487]

I want to better understand the "U.S. Only" option. I am a US Citizen, with a U.S. bank account, paying US taxes. I will be residing long-term outside the United States in a similar time zone as EST. What are the motivations for someone to limit the jobs to only someone physically present in the United States? 

[AndreaG]

Hi Seth,

This feature is designed for clients who have a specific need for a freelancer in their country (reasons vary, but in many cases they need the possibility of on-site coordination, localized knowledge, or have to meet certain compliance rules for their company). However, our location confirmation process allows for periodic travel, so if we’ve been able to confirm that the freelancer is in the U.S. they'll still be able to submit proposals for jobs where the client is requesting U.S. freelancers only. It will then be up to the freelancer and the client to determine whether their travel schedule affects their ability to meet the job requirements.

[moonraker]

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Andrea G wrote:

This feature is designed for clients who have a specific need for a freelancer in their country

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I know I won't be privvy to this information, but I'd love to see the stats on how many times this is used when a client genuinely has a need for a freelancer based in their country.

My guess is that it's rather a small percentage.

[tlbp]

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Jamie F wrote:

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Andrea G wrote:

This feature is designed for clients who have a specific need for a freelancer in their country

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I know I won't be privvy to this information, but I'd love to see the stats on how many times this is used when a client genuinely has a need for a freelancer based in their country.

My guess is that it's rather a small percentage.

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How would you get that data? 
If the the reason for the choice is due to legal or tax issues, or even corporate policy, would the client disclose that? 

[moonraker]

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Tonya P wrote:

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How would you get that data? 
If the the reason for the choice is due to legal or tax issues, or even corporate policy, would the client disclose that? 

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I doubt very much that I can get that data.

I mean Upwork's data and I'll wager a hefty sum that they won't release it to me or anyone else.

*Edit. You might be asking how Upwork would know. In which case - good question. In dunno the answer. Such data might not exist, which would make one wonder how they can justify the policy.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Jamie F wrote:

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Tonya P wrote:

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How would you get that data? 
If the the reason for the choice is due to legal or tax issues, or even corporate policy, would the client disclose that? 

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I doubt very much that I can get that data.

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This is only anecdotal "evidence", but we've all read posts in the forum - from both freelancers and clients - who say things like "everyone from country X is a low-quality scammer" and "how do I filter out everyone from countries Y and Z" and "I refuse to consider clients outside of the U.S." Whereas how often do we read posts from clients with legal/tax/compliance concerns?

Of course, it would be hypocritical of me not to admit that - living here in "Brexit Britain" - I'm undoubtedly benefitting from the increased levels of xenophobia by frequently being invited to bid on UK-only projects. (I'd prefer to think it's because there are distinctive trends and style preferences from country to country - which is true - but it would be naive to think that there are always legit reasons.) But when I search for projects myself, I keep the UK-only filter turned off, because I honestly love working with clients all over the world and think that it's one of the most interesting things about freelancing. People are really missing out if they think otherwise. 

[a_lipsey]

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Christine A wrote:

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Jamie F wrote:

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Tonya P wrote:

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How would you get that data? 
If the the reason for the choice is due to legal or tax issues, or even corporate policy, would the client disclose that? 

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I doubt very much that I can get that data.

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This is only anecdotal "evidence", but we've all read posts in the forum - from both freelancers and clients - who say things like "everyone from country X is a low-quality scammer" and "how do I filter out everyone from countries Y and Z" and "I refuse to consider clients outside of the U.S." Whereas how often do we read posts from clients with legal/tax/compliance concerns?

Of course, it would be hypocritical of me not to admit that - living here in "Brexit Britain" - I'm undoubtedly benefitting from the increased levels of xenophobia by frequently being invited to bid on UK-only projects. (I'd prefer to think it's because there are distinctive trends and style preferences from country to country - which is true - but it would be naive to think that there are always legit reasons.) But when I search for projects myself, I keep the UK-only filter turned off, because I honestly love working with clients all over the world and think that it's one of the most interesting things about freelancing. People are really missing out if they think otherwise. 

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I only know in my line of work that we absolutely do have to hire within the US due to legal compliance issues. But I will also say that these clients usually don't like that constraint because they recognize the best person and right price might not be in the US. But they are bound by the terms of grants and contracts with the US government. So anecdotally I'd say the function is used more to discriminate than it is for legal/tax issues. 

[moonraker]

Yup.

And it grates when they bang on about inclusivity. It feels hollow.

[tlbp]

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Seth E wrote:

I want to better understand the "U.S. Only" option. I am a US Citizen, with a U.S. bank account, paying US taxes. I will be residing long-term outside the United States in a similar time zone as EST. What are the motivations for someone to limit the jobs to only someone physically present in the United States? 

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What would motivate someone to not want to hire a US citizen living in North, Central or South America but not the US proper? You'd have to ask each person who makes that decision. 

Practially speaking, Clients don't have the choice to say, US only or US citizen but not in the US. They can either limit the search to US only or not. So, they choose the option that most closely meets their criteria. 

Upwork probably does not lose enough revenue because some US citizens don't qualify for US only job to create a separate review process to manage the ones who want access to US-only jobs but aren't physically in the US and would otherwise be the freelancer of choice for a company that stated their desire for a freelancer physically located in the US. 

[a_lipsey]

Also to add, as a freelancer, I only work with US companies, because the nature of my work is that the companies have to be in the US. I also have legal/compliance items to deal with. I could certainly work with international organizations and organization located outside the US to help them find funding in their country, etc., but that's not my competency. So I use the US-only jobs filter because in my line of work, that's what I'm qualified to do. I know we don't hear from people like me on this issue much here, but aside from clients, there are numerous freelancers who are bound by legal/compliance that they can only conduct business in a certain country (although certainly plenty of freelancers who are bound by those laws or regulations don't care). 

[moonraker]

I don't doubt that there are legitimate cases, but I do doubt there's enough to warrant such a blanket approach.