Aug 16, 2023 08:00:28 AM Edited Aug 16, 2023 08:01:59 AM by Stan G
Check out the product release for Marketplace Updates: Changes to Upwork Application Prices, and let us know your thoughts and question in the comments below.
Aug 16, 2023 08:11:01 AM by Rafik T
To be honest, I disagree with a lot of Upwork decisions recently.
When I look at the idea of making paid connects a requirement to apply for jobs, it seems a great idea at first it can reduce random job applications, unqualified freelancers, and give a better opportunity to more serious and people that are the best match for the job.
But when you look to what is happening in the Platform, from fake jobs, to connects battle races, to unresponsive clients.
I am not against upwork making money, it is good for both freelancers and Upwork to stay in business.
But, it must be a platform where freelancers feel appreciated so they can perform at their best.
Jan 3, 2024 09:05:48 AM by Jen D
What other company in the world that isn't a scam makes you pay money to apply for a job? Think about it. Once again, Upwork, looking for revenue, penalizes the freelancers. They keep raising the number of connects required and it is OUT OF CONTROL - 60+ connects sometimes! Why not charge enterprise clients more for the cheap labor and savings on health and other corporate benefits they are raking in using Upwork freelancers. I feel Upwork could be champion for freelancers and the networked organization and instead they nickel and dime us. There are other ways to sort out bad profiles, scamming freelancers, etc. And the connect required do not consistently reflect pay rates. I'd love to see their data on that argument.
Feb 28, 2024 06:45:01 PM by guanwei y
I came to this platform for the first time to look for a job and ended up wasting a lot of connections because I wasn't familiar with the rules
Aug 16, 2023 08:27:30 AM by Dmytro P
Okay, but we are seeing 16 connects jobs since June. Is this just an announcement, or what? I don't understand
Aug 16, 2023 08:55:07 AM Edited Aug 16, 2023 11:10:52 AM by Douglas Michael M
[Comment withdrawn. Apparently I misunderstood.]
Aug 16, 2023 09:34:43 AM by Avery O
Hi Dmytro,
We initially tested the new Connects range in limited categories. The new proposal amounts have now been applied to all categories.
Aug 17, 2023 11:22:23 AM by Abdul Wadood B
Hello, I have seen something today, the jobs are requiring more connects to apply than was required before. Till yesterday the rates were different and quite low, but today I have seen that it is charging 12 - 16 connects to apply for an intermediate-level job with a client's budget of around 100 - 500 USD. Have anyone else faced the same type of issue?
Aug 17, 2023 11:32:11 AM Edited Aug 17, 2023 11:34:51 AM by Mykola A
Is same. I see many jobs from scammers, with budget less than $10. All costs 16 connects.
Lets wait 32 connects for job. Or 320. It will be added soon as i see.
ps Upwirk is a zombie! Platform dead but hungry, need more and more.
Aug 17, 2023 10:48:01 AM by Chijioke U
@Upwork Please if this is a glitch you guys should inform us... How can one apply for a job with almost $2 and might not even get a response or the client might not even hire. tell us if Upwork is now expensive or it's just a glitch🙏🙏
Aug 17, 2023 11:40:10 AM by Mazhar I
This is discouraging, there has to be an upper limit for connects.
Aug 17, 2023 11:47:26 AM by Chijioke U
I'm tired of this, Imagine I haven't applied for any job since yesterday thinking it might be a glitch
Aug 17, 2023 11:49:02 AM by Mykola A
Sorry, but it is real. I checked my feed, found one job for 8 connects (unverified, $5 budget). All other 16.
Aug 17, 2023 11:48:30 AM by Chijioke U
After collecting 10% from my pay, i will still use $2 to apply for a job
Aug 17, 2023 12:49:13 PM by Zabrina H
I just noticed this too starting yesterday! Before yesterday all jobs I saw were between 2 - 8 connects and now every single one is 16! What is happening?!
Aug 17, 2023 01:44:53 PM by Hammed O
Upwork must think they'll always have the market and users won't have alternatives
Aug 17, 2023 01:50:26 PM by Joe B
UW greed. Without warning, UW retroactively doubled the number required for all jobs <16 connects early yesterday morning, including those that were already posted (the search results were showing one number, but it was double that number when you clicked on the title; it looks like they fixed that revealing glitch). Now you can use double the connects for jobs posted by clients who post and then disappear (no hires, interviews or activity) or for scam postings.
First, UW introduced the bidding war to try to get people to buy connects, which apparently didn't generate enough $ because some freelancers refused to play the game. Now it's this (freelancers can't really opt out).
Aug 17, 2023 01:51:06 PM Edited Aug 17, 2023 05:01:31 PM by Arjay M
I posted this in another thread but here is the kind of high quality job you can apply for for only 12 connects! /s
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Aug 17, 2023 05:37:24 PM by Tiffany S
Have you considered that Upwork may want to steer freelancers away from those jobs?
Aug 18, 2023 04:12:20 PM by Jasmine C
I'm so curious! Can you describe the job? It says your post was edited for community guidelines.
Aug 17, 2023 05:32:26 PM by Tiffany S
It's not a glitch. It's been under discussion here in the forums for weeks.
Aug 17, 2023 06:58:02 PM by Pema L
it is not a glitch. Someone working as upwork member responded to the other post. This is stupid. Applying jobs for 30-50$ will cost you 16 connects for what? I mean they don't even get to view the proposal or they don't even hire anyone.
if Upwork raises the connects to 16 for applying jobs, they should also make some policy that if your proposals don't get viewed or hire. They should return the connects.
upwork is happily making tons of money out of freelancers. You buy connects if you finish them all and then if you get hired they charge your service fee and then for withdrawal too, there is a fee. How pathetic!
Aug 30, 2023 02:30:16 AM by Kennedy M
I support this with 16 connects of my unviewed proposals! If the client does not view a sent proposal it's only fair for Upwork to refund the connects!!
Jan 3, 2024 09:09:28 AM by Jen D
We are paying to submit proposals that never get views and jobs that never see a hire, time and time again, I mean it is FREQUENT. Why isn't Upwork insisting on better quality and follow through on the job poster side? Waiting for a job to be cancelled to get connects back just doesn't happen Upwork. Do better by your freelancers.
Aug 21, 2023 11:57:56 AM by Fidel P
Hello, one question: why does the amount of necessary connects vary for each job? Does that tell me something about the customers who need the job?
Aug 21, 2023 12:10:30 PM by Candace K
Hi Fidel,
I jumped into Forums to ask the same question. I have noticed that most of the jobs I am interested in submitting a proposal to are now 16 Connects. I have only been on Upwork for a few weeks, but had not seen this number so high.
It will be interesting to see the answer.
Candace
Aug 23, 2023 05:33:06 PM by Fidel P
Aug 22, 2023 06:56:08 PM by C Sabrina M
I have also noticed recently the increase in connects to apply for the job posts and to me this is inappropriate, Why should I pay 16 connects for a client that will not even look at my personalized proposal? You want us freelancers to apply for job posts that sometimes cost more to pay the connects than the payment you will get from that work done. That doesn't make sense.
Why aren't the connects I paid given back when the job has been awarded to another person, and the connects taken when the person is awarded the work?
That would be more appropriate, in my opinion, as we only get the connects back when a client reaches out to us.
I hope that Upwork can reconsider this decision.
Also I noticed that I was starting to get more invitations and after the connects increase that has stopped as well.
Aug 16, 2023 10:23:38 AM by Travis S
You just halved the value of my Freelancer Plus account. Are you going to adjust the number of monthly connects it provides?
Aug 16, 2023 10:37:54 AM Edited Aug 22, 2023 01:11:26 PM by Lili Marlene B
I'm sorry, I fail to see the effectiveness of this, or boosting bids. I have been here since long before this platform was called Upwork. I was here when ODesk and Elance were separate platforms. I've built my reputation as a top-rated provider with a lot of hard work.
For the last few months, it feels like you've taken all that work and just thrown it, and me, to the wayside. I'm sure other providers feel the same. It's gone from a platform where I had (at times) more work and invitations than I could handle, to feeling like I'm begging for scraps.
I work hard, and even though I buy connects, if my bids (boosted) are not being interacted with, or even seen, then what good does it, or buying more do me? How do you determine a job is worth 16 connects? Shouldn't it be up to the poster to decide what their job is worth?
The idea is that you make money and we make money, but all I'm seeing with these recent changes is you making money off of me and me, not getting to be seen by clients.