Job size will now be factored into your JSS

lenaellis · ‎02-03-2020

UPDATE: The JSS Metric has been updated to reflect the changes that were announced below. As of today, March 1st, all Job Success Scores are now displaying the updated value.

We will soon update JSS metrics to reflect job value in the calculation. Today, a one-week $20 job typically carries the same weight as a one-week $1,000 job in JSS. Soon, JSS will be weighted by job earnings. For example, a one-week $1,000 job will be weighted more than a one-week $20 job. JSS will also exclude contracts with $0 earned and positive feedback. All other JSS policies will remain unchanged.

What does this mean?

We are making this change so a freelancer’s Job Success Score will display a more comprehensive representation of their freelancer work. We understand not all jobs are equal. We know higher budget contracts require more work and freelancers who complete these more complex contracts successfully should get credit for them. Just as longer-term contracts hold more weight in JSS calculations than shorter ones, we believe contract value should also hold significance in the calculation. By giving these jobs more weight, these jobs will have a greater influence on a JSS.

Many freelancers will see an increase in their scores if they’ve successfully completed higher budget contracts in the past. At the same time, a small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS, see a drop in their scores, or lose their Top Rated badge. Today, we are emailing freelancers whose JSS will see a decline of 5% or more, to let them know they will be affected. Freelancers that see a drop in their score can improve their JSS by completing more jobs with positive feedback, as it works today. Larger budget contracts with positive feedback will result in a higher increase in JSS, however, all great feedback contributes to JSS and whether you work on large or small contracts you can still reach 100% JSS.

This change will take effect in March, at which time all Job Success Scores will be updated retroactively. We know many of you will have questions about this update. We won’t be able to discuss your individual score or outcomes of specific contracts. We have listed some anticipated questions below, let us know if you have any additional questions.

FAQS:

Can I know what my new JSS is now before this launches?

We will not be able to provide you with your updated score until the JSS calculation refreshes at launch, in March.

Does this mean if I don’t get big contracts I’ll never be able to get a JSS of 100%?

Receiving stellar feedback on smaller budget jobs can still get you to a JSS of 100%. We are only changing the impact of jobs based on earnings. This means that strong client feedback on a higher-budget job could boost your score more than a lower-budget job. All other aspects of JSS will remain the same.

How will I know if it affects me?

The majority of freelancers will be affected positively by this change and will see an increase in their scores. We are sending out emails to those who will likely see a drop in their score once the new JSS calculation goes into effect in March.

Can this affect me positively, will my JSS go up?

Yes! The vast majority of freelancers on the platform will see an increase or very little change in their scores. This is because you may have worked on one or more higher paying contracts in the past, and because you received great feedback that great feedback is being weighted more.

Can I lose my JSS?

A small percentage of freelancers may lose their JSS. This is because they had one or more jobs with no earnings. Positive feedback on contracts with no earnings will not be factored into JSS once we move to the new calculation. As a result, some freelancers won’t have enough outcomes to be eligible for a JSS until they successfully complete more jobs. Nearly all freelancers have scores after completing eight projects.

How does weighting work specifically?

To ensure fairness and avoid manipulation, we don’t share the specifics about how we calculate the Job Success Score. Thanks for your understanding.

So if I take a bigger job and get negative feedback that counts more than positive feedback on smaller jobs?
Yes. A job with higher earnings will always impact your Job Success Score (JSS) more than a smaller job. For example, feedback on a $1,000 job carries more weight on your JSS compared to a $20 job. However, receiving poor feedback on a job with more earnings can be balanced out by doing well on a job of the same size in the future or on a number of smaller jobs.

Can I lose my Top Rated badge?

Yes, a small percentage of freelancers who see a decline in their JSS may drop below 90% and lose their Top Rated badge. This is because they received less-than-positive public or private feedback on one or more of their higher-paying contracts. Feedback on contracts with higher earnings will affect JSS more after this new change.

kochubei_valeria · ‎03-04-2020

Hi Vaishnav,

Jobs with no earnings or no feedback become counted in your score, either because they were closed or because several months have passed since you received a payment. Unfortunately, we won't be able to share the further details about how we calculate the Job Success Score and the effect specific contracts have on it.

grg183 · ‎03-04-2020

I think Upwork should simply get rid of the complex and mysteriously-calculated JSS rating, feedback and many of the other complexities that it has accumulated over the years. I miss the oDesk days, the platform was so much simpler and cleaner, it served its purpose without getting into the way.

JSS is supposed to indicate the freelancer's success, but what is success? For a freelancer, this is simply being able to make a decent living and grow professionally by offering his honest and professional services as an independent professional. That's all. Freelancer's success has nothing to do with the client's opinion, it has nothing to do with how a project ended, it has nothing to do with the size of the project and nothing to do with how long a project has been idle.

In my opinion, Upwork should replace all of this with 3 things:

- A system to weed out dis-honest freelancers.As long as a freelancer is honest and genuine his abilities to get work should not be hindered.

- A system of testimonials by past or active clients (instead of feedback at the end of the project). One problem with the current system is that some contracts really have no end, and that means a lot of work done with no feedback being provided for it. I have a few clients that I have been working with for multiple years on the same contract, would love to be able to get a testimonial from them.

- Statistics on the number of projects or working hours completed both globally and short term (which is practically the same as it is now) which as I said above is the real metric of success.

Many of the world's most successful people were at some point ridiculed and rejected by others, but the opinion of those others this didn't stop them from becoming successful ...and yet here we are on a platform in which someone's success is based on the opinion of others instead of one's own achievements.

faskhan12 · ‎03-04-2020

The two worst steps upwork have ever taken were:

1. Establishing JSS to judge freelancer's performance and rank their profile based on unverified private feedbacks by clients, instead of entirely judging them by earning , number of jobs in a month and worth of a job. They completely destroyed freelancer's willingness and motivation to work in long terms.

2. Forcing freelancer to buy connects to apply for jobs. Most of my clients were short terms and 1 job they probably never return bcoz of the nature of my work, it doesnt need longetivity so I have invested 20% to upwork for most of the short term jobs. You guys already charging from freelancer throuhg service fee and then double burden of buying connects to make your profile stay alive.

Upwork seriously needs to fix both issues.

harshitvaishnav · ‎03-04-2020

Someone from upwork told me that job with no feedback has no nagative affect in JSS.

AveryO · ‎03-04-2020

Hi Vaishnav,

As noted in the FAQ section of this help article, "...contracts with no client feedback, including ones you ended or left open and inactive, do not affect your score unless you have excessive contracts with no feedback." This means that if you have excessive contracts without feedback, this will affect your score.

mwendell · ‎03-04-2020

Any insight into what is considered "excessive"? And is there anything that can be done if freelancers can posit credible reasons for several? In other words, is there any way we can protect ourselves and appeal to Upwork?

I recently had an Upwork rep tell me that this is affecting my score. Just this year, I had a client cancel a contract in order to give me another. Then she canceled that one when a glitch in her CRM prevented me from working. She can't have been dissatisfied with my work because I never completed any work. What happened was out of my control.

One guy hired me, only for me to realize after hire that the contract involved a phone call. Due to time differences, we couldn't find a time both of us could meet and he ended the contract. I didn't actually get to do any work, and if he'd mentioned this requirement beforehand we'd have figured out before a contract that it wouldn't have worked out.

Another guy hired me and disappeared without sending any work. I realized that he went and hired two additional people for $5/hour. He wasn't actually dissatisfied with my work because I didn't do any for him, he probably realized he could get someone to do the job cheaper. It looks like he hired those people and didn't give them much work either (they've billed just a few hours between them...since January).

I was told that a string of no feedback indicates client disappointment. This is ridiculous in cases where no work was actually done. And even if work was done, it doesn't necessarily indicate client dissatisfaction. It could mean that the client got what he wanted and left, didn't understand the importance of feedback for the freelancer or didn't care, left the company and started working somewhere else (this has also happened to me), etc. There are a myriad of reasons. Automatically jumping to a negative conclusion can unnecessarily hurt the freelancer and ultimately Upwork's bottom line if it prevents them from finding more work.

Do freelancers have any recourse? Is there any appeals process for us that I don't know about? I don't think so, but maybe it's an idea for the future. From my limited time browsing the forums, I can tell that freelancers support a jss policy overhaul. I hope the issues we raise are listened to and ultimately acted upon.

jonathanmjames · ‎03-05-2020

Went from 98% to 90% in a day.

Talked to upwork about it. They said it could be from also calculating *no feedback* as generally bad?? I have 100+ people in the last few months rating me 5* everytime for jobs from $25 - $3K and never have bad experiences. Now all of a sudden my score dipped a huge amount in such a short time.

I am really concerned about this, and am wondering if anyone else is having similar situations?

They said I could reach out to individual clients to basically beg for feedback? Which to me will only result in annoying people.

Anyhow.... not feeling it this morning.

ellennaa · ‎03-05-2020

"Positive feedback on contracts with no earnings will not be factored into the Job Success Score calculation now that we have moved to the new Job Success Score calculation" - moderator.

Have we already moved to the new JSS calculation?

gaspardjack · ‎03-05-2020

Yes:

UPDATE: The JSS Metric has been updated to reflect the changes that were announced below. As of today, March 1st, all Job Success Scores are now displaying the updated value.

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/Job-size-will-now-be-factored-into-your-JSS/m-p/697918

lesterb22 · ‎03-05-2020

My open ticket has been up for almost 4 days already. Still no elaborative answer with regards to my JSS issues. It changed from 88% to 78% even with most recent 5.0 feedback from my clients. I am eager and determined to move forward but this thing just keep pulling me back. We need help, we seek for answers.