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jasontorpy
Community Member

How do I turn off us-only by default

When I search for jobs, 'US-Only' is turned on by default. I don't want it on. I don't care where jobs are and I'm proficient in enough foreign languages to make it very worth my while. It's extremely irritating to have to turn off US-only every time I do a search. I looked around but I haven't been able to find a button. Any help?

23 REPLIES 23
shetani
Community Member

Jason, I've already submitted a ticket about this (I'm not in the US at all), and I've been told that "this is by design". I've also asked them to stop turning it on by default and have received no reply. Hopefully the mods can help expedite this request.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Jason,

 

The toggle is set to U.S.-only by design and freelancers can switch it on and off when searching. I'll share your feedback with the team.

 

Ines, you shouldn't see the toggle at all since you are not located in the U.S. I'll follow up with the team regarding your ticket.

~ Valeria
Upwork

It's a poor design choice.

 

Please share my feedback with the team as well.

I agree.

 

Every time I do a Job Feed I have to do it a second time to see Jobs that are otherwise interesting from US clients but just did not specific US Only.  Wastes my time.

Joe

 

 

 

Joseph M. C. ,P.C., CPA/ABV

Is there a way to turn off US-only when searching for freelancers?  I used to see talent all over the world. not only in US. 

Hi Lilia,

 

You should be able to search for other freelancers as well. In the search, are you seeing the 'U.S. Only' button as shown in this screenshot? If not, you can try clearing your cache and cookies or using another browser. If that doesn't help, please let me know so that I can assist you further.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork
shetani
Community Member

And it continues.

 

2017-11-23_23-25-54.png

 

 

Ines, 

 

Did the pop up appear again since you updated the ticket? If so, could you please reply to the ticket and the team will re-open the case?

~ Valeria
Upwork

Hi Valeria,

Actually the pop-up wasn't there before, it showed up yesterday for the first time. And the On/Off toggle in Find Work came back.

I just updated the ticket.

 

If Upwork doesn't want non-US clients and non-US freelancers on the platform, it can just say so. These two features (coupled with the intrusive map for US freelancers) are so forced that that's the only reasonable conclusion they lead to.

 

Cheers,

Ines

Thanks for updating the ticket, Ines. I'll follow up on it and the team will investigate as soon as possible.

 

Freelancers and clients outside of the U.S. are definitely welcome on Upwork and can continue posting and finding projects just as they did before. There are two reasons why we are testing the location selection feature.

First, clients have told us that they sometimes need a freelancer located in the same country. Their projects may require localized knowledge, the possibility of on-site coordination, specific compliance needs or other factors that make working with someone within their country an easier way to get started on Upwork.

Secondly, we’ve heard from freelancers who are upset that they are taking the time (and wasting connects) to submit proposals for jobs they will not be considered for because they do not meet the client’s location requirement.  

Please also note: We are initially testing this out with clients in the U.S. only. Based on the results, we’ll consider expanding to clients in other countries.

~ Valeria
Upwork

I have noted that when "us only" is on, US jobs that do not specify US Only do not appear in my Job Search.

 

Every time I turn off the US Only toggle, it automatically turns back on.

 

Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

Joseph M. C. ,P.C., CPA/ABV
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

I'm sorry to know this has inconvenienced you, Joseph. 

I checked this last week with the team and they have confirmed that the Find Work page's default job feed is the U.S. job feed. You may access your non-U.S. job feed by clicking on My Job Feed to load up your saved searches that do not have the U.S. jobs filter.


~ Avery
Upwork
jdally987
Community Member

Agreed with everyone above...this is one of "those weird Upwork things" that I just don't see a logical reason for. Why can't you just stick a toggle in our Settings menu that says: *Find Jobs Search: Use US-only By Default* ?

 

You can even keep the setting On by default for everyone. But just give us the freaking option, please...I can't help but wonder if there's some kind of obscure profit motive here?

 

If so, the fact that you're not admitting it makes it not only more intriguing, but frankly somewhat malicious.

 

If not, my apologies for the accusation - but an explanation for the developers' reasoning would definitely be in order.

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi John, 

 

Please know that at this time there isn’t a way to change the default. This toggle is designed to make the location filter easier to find and to turn on and off. We welcome feedback on this design, and I’ll be sure to relay your comments to the team.


~ Avery
Upwork
jdally987
Community Member

Ok great, the toggle itself is great sometimes. But **why** are we explicitly disallowed to change that? I'm assuming it would take literally a couple lines of JS or something, right? So I'm still confused as to why it's forced upon users?

 

I understand the motive for the toggle itself, existing which you mentioned. But what's the motive for keeping it on by default? In other words, why do you want to push freelancers towards a higher probability of picking jobs in the US only? (because that is what the toggle being on by default does result in, correct?)

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi John, 

 

The job feed defaults to U.S., or U.K., as other freelancers see the benefits of the US and UK filter. Those jobs tend to have higher rates and less competition so we have defaulted it to the country of the freelancer where it is available.

 

Please also know that the team is aware of this thread, and appreciates the feedback being shared about this initiative. 


~ Avery
Upwork
33323907
Community Member

Folks, don't waste your time on sending feedback.

Upwork doesn't care about your experieces or feelings.

 

They need to drive their sales up by artificially limiting market.

 

It makes no sense--at all. Especially since it's uber hard to upload your ID to verify your location. Then you are prohibited from applying until IT handles it. 

 

Also, when I was finally able to turn this feature off, every job I searched was marked as US only. I find it hard to believe that this many people select to only have US persons work on their projects. I'm assuming this is also a default when people submit projects--and probably don't even realize it... Is that correct? 

 

There are so many flaws to this, and it was so much better when it was Elance. 

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

I'm sorry to learn about your experience, Shirley. I checked your account and can see that you were able to file a ticket regarding your location verification issue. Please know that the Customer Support Team is currently working to assist you further. 


You should be able to view other job posts that do not have a U.S. location requirement by clicking on the "My Job Feed" link on your Find Work page. I just checked now and can see that not all posts on your job feed have a U.S. location requirement. 


~ Avery
Upwork
weinreich
Community Member

Let me add my voice to the chorus, even though this is an older post. This US-only default in searches is driving me crazy. I hope that Upwork will consider letting us specify whether we want it as our default or not. It will ensure that we don't miss potentially appropriate jobs that just happen to be in another country.

macy-mace
Community Member

It's by design, on purpose. It's time to create a new website like the old elance that is not restrictive to US only as this one is. Here's an idea...

This problem has now also reached the UK. The biggest violation of Upwork is that when you set a bookmark to the normal job feed, this is overriden and you are forced back onto the domestic feed. If it was really a "feature", this would not be the case and developers would be allowed to have a choice, at least from a URL perspective.

 

Please make the URL's for the domestic feed and normal job feed distinguishable to not force freelancers onto whichever feed Upwork decides.

This problem is still there after 4 years...

Ridiculos

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