What’s up with clients here these days?

[#1]

I left Upwork back in 2019, thinking I’d give the platform another go now that I’m back freelancing… but honestly, things have only gotten worse. Every single client I’ve interacted with this time around has been a nightmare. They either 1. asking to work off-platform 2. offer to pay outside of the platform 3. completely ghosted after posting jobs

Honestly, Upwork needs to get serious about protecting freelancers. Wasting connects on dead-end jobs isn’t fair, and they need to crack down on clients who pull this stuff. There should be better job vetting, stricter penalties for policy violations, and maybe a connect refund for abandoned jobs. I love freelancing, but dealing with clients like this is making it feel impossible to keep going.

[#2]

I had been engaged on a long term project from 2021 - October 2024 here on Upwork. When I got back again writing proposals I started making the same observations you have.

Clients posts jobs that cost us Connects to have access to and frankly it seems that the job posts are created to waste our time and connects. Sometimes nobody gets interviewed and the job gets closed which sucks if you were one of the top 4 using boosts to get your proposal noticed.

Speaking of boosts, they don't seem to work. With over 14 proposals and hard money spent buying Connects, proposals don't get viewed talk less of getting the interview even when you've got a very strong profile here on Upwork.

At the moment I am considering finding work somewhere else as Upwork has gone far away from providing engaging Client and Freelancer connections and relationships.

You have to pay to get noticed: availability badge.

Pay to write proposals.

Pay to boost proposals.

Pay Upwork a percentage of your earnings If you are lucky enough to get the job.

There seem to be job posts but not enough hiring going on.