So, this change is going into effect soon (unless Upwork decides to modify the plan before they initiate). As threads such as
showcase, many high-earning individuals on the platform are planning to or are already moving from Upwork. With the loss of the 5% fee tier, there will be little to no incentive to keep high value, long-time contracts on the platform. Previously, the value of automated billing/invoicing was high enough for freelancers to keep good, easy relationships on the platform at a 5% rate. A 10% cut, as many freelancers testified in the feedback to the announcement, exceeds the value of the platform at that stage.
But what about the 2-year restriction? The fact that Clients are required to pay a huge fee to convert any relationships with freelancers off of the platform before that 2-year mark. Well, I predict that the number of "circumventors" will spike. It is already immensely common for Clients to post jobs without hiring. Hire rates under 30% are not uncommon. In that context, it will be very easy for Clients and Freelancers to meet via Upwork and then surreptitiously end the interview without hiring on Upwork, electing instead to work together off-platform. How would Upwork notice? With over 4 million active accounts (Freelancers only, Clients only, and both) and hundreds of thousands or millions of job postings each year, it is obvious to see that circumvention - even in mass quantities - will go largely unnoticed.
If Upwork's Trust and Safety team isn't able to keep up with spam postings - even with the assistance of Freelancers! - then I find it extremely unlikely that the Anti-Circumvention taskforce (or whatever they are called) will be able to identify new relationships that simply used Upwork as a networking hub or identify existing relationships that chose to leave the platform. Yes, if suddenly consistent earners/buyers stopped earning/buying on Upwork but were still involved in many interviews, that could be a reliable indicator. But if parties played it smart and simply reduced their Upwork contracts, then there will be no reliable indicators. No smoke. No herrings - not even red ones.
Upwork, have you heard of focus groups? I find it hard to imagine that you ran this plan to eliminate tiers through a number of your consistent high-earning Freelancers. Or even your consistent mid-earning Freelancers. Because as the feedback thread clearly demonstrates, they would have told you that it would cost you some or all of their business. Or maybe this announcement WAS your idea of implementing focus groups. If that's the case, this was a really, really poor method of idea testing.
Your ship. Just know that it will take a lot more than tar for your anti-circumvention unit to patch the holes through which your cargo will be dumping - nay, jumping! - into the sea.
ETA: corrected a missing negative.
