BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Lisa B.

Here is some truly fantastic news that is sure to supercharge all of our careers.

I just received an email from Upwork and I'm beside myself with excitement!!!

After many lengthy staff meeting that went on till the wee hours of the morning and millions of dollars spent conferring with leading experts...

Upwork has decided to change the name "Escrow" to "Project Funds."

How brilliant is that??? I literally had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming!

This is truly the game-changer we've all been waiting for.

Just when I thought Upwork had gone down the tubes, they have proved me wrong.

So there, all you Negative Nancys!

Alexandra

Lisa B. NegativeNancy1 has an idea to share (especially with anyone from UW management): make job postings subject to a deposit fee to get those projects awarded!

Vladimir

Yeah, saw that update. My favorite is being eligible for a 0% service fee for new contracts, as part of a small group of select freelancers, in an unrelated category. 🤣

Jokes aside I'm actually glad about the name change, Project Funds is a clearer term.

Alexandra

I got the email, and it made me rush to see whether there will actually still be an escrow (in the legal sense). It seems that there will be, since the company looking after the money is still the same. I'd hate to have to start work on a project only to find out later that the 'funds' hadn't actually arrived yet and there was nothing in the 'pot'.

Lisa B.

Alexandra

If forget why, but that idea was suggested many times in the old Upwork forum but always got shot down.

Debs1723

I haven't received that email, maybe it wasn't for everyone. I rarely work on fixed price projects - except consultation sessions.

Debs1723

Hey, I got that email just now. But without any mention of 0% rates unfortunately :(

Alexandra

Lisa B. Yeah, okay, but that was back then when clients couldn't be sure to find a suitable candidate. UW has evolved since then, and no client needs to worry that they won't find a match amongst the millions of highly qualified, 'tried and trusted ' freelancers on the platform. (And you could always establish a procedure for cases where no match is found. Recruitment firms have options in place for this contingency.)

TopRatedTroll

lol Lisa.

I'm unironically concerned they will drop some of the escrow protections. I will avoid escrow jobs as much as I can but I'm not 100% against it if I really feel the client will pay. This will likely bite me in the butt eventually, but so far I've only given in once last year.

God I hope they don't get rid of payment protection for hourly. I'll be forced to go back to escrow if they do.

Lisa B.

TopRatedTroll

I'm the same. I avoid fixed rate jos for the most part, but will begrudgingly agree if certain clients insist on it.

The problem is fixed rate contracts are a pain in the ass because they take up brain space.

After I submit the work, I'm always wondering if and when they'll release the funds or I'll be waiting the full 14 days for it to be automatically released or the client hates the work and is considering revisions or a million other things. And then I'll waste more time actually going to the damn contract and counting down how many more days until the funds are automatically released. 🤦🏻‍♀️ And, of course, then there's 4-5 more days until the payment moves from f****** pending.

Unlike hourly contracts that are stress-free, fixed rate contracts are too much in my head!

This is me with fixed rate contracts...

Robin

Sounds like the thin end of the wedge, to me.

Robin

My brighter mind says… in fairness, a lot of people probably don't know what the word 'escrow' means.

So hopefully this is only cosmetic.