At this point, this is likely old news for some of you. However, I've been a freelancer on Upworks for 10 years. Up until 2.5 months ago, I did well on Upworks. As I was working on the same project for nearly 2 years, that started in September 2023, I missed noticing that Upworks was going downhill...which, at this point, has gone down hill. After the long-term project that I was working on ended 2.5 months ago, I found myself looking for other projects. Only then did I realize that something had drastically changed with the site...and that something is not good.
While a few of the projects posted are likely legitimate, based on my recent experience with the site, seemingly, a good portion of the projects being posted on the site are fake! While some of those posts are from spammers, I also think that some of the project postings are AI generated by the site to get freelancers to bid on the projects and use up their connects so that they will have to purchase more connects from the site. It has gotten hard for me to tell what projects are fake, and which ones are legit. Based on other information that I have read, before bidding on a project, look at the following information;
1) Whether the payment has been verified. If the payment has been unverified, the posting is likely spam.
2) Whether the poster has a history on the site;
3) Whether the poster has any ratings. Obviously, a new poster will not have ratings if they have no history on the site. Just pay close attention to this.
4) Average hourly wage page by the poster for other projects. If the poster has a history of paying low hourly wages, it might be best to not bid on that project because they are likely looking for someone who will accept less.
Based on what I have been reading from other freelancers, 2024 is when Upworks started to take a deep nose dive. 2024 is when Upworks acquired some AI companies. Coincidence, I think not! I say this because some of the postings that I see are repeat postings and for some of the projects, none of the submitted proposals get opened. After submitting a proposal, the freelancer is able to see how many proposals have been submitted for that project and how many of those proposals have been opened/viewed. I am not just referring to my submitted proposal, I am referring to all the submitted proposals for the project. Something seems very wrong with what's happening on the site now. Though my job success rating is over 90% I am Top Rated, and I have tracked over 3700 hours, I have not been able to secure another project for the 2.5 months. I have submitted at least 40 proposals and nothing! Out of the proposals that I submitted, the site indicates that less than 5 of them have been viewed.
I wrote all of this to say, be careful before using your connects bidding on projects, especially boosting your bids. Whether Upwork will make a comeback, that remains to be seen. However, at this point, the site seems to be pretty much a lost cause. After 2.5 months of disappointment, I have started focusing my energies elsewhere. I had a good run.
