The Downfall of Upwork?

Discussions Spotlight Discussions
1

I’ve been using Upwork for lead generation for a while, but lately, it feels like the platform is going downhill, especially in 2024. For me, it’s no longer worth it to pay my VA to submit proposals because I’m basically losing money on Connects.

What Are Connects?

Connects are Upwork’s internal credits that freelancers need to spend to apply for jobs. Each proposal costs a certain number of Connects, and if the job doesn’t lead to work—such as when clients don’t hire anyone—you lose the Connects you spent, essentially wasting money with no return.

Here are some of the most common problems Freelancers are facing on Upwork in 2024:

1. Rising Costs

Upwork’s fees are getting harder to manage. They take 20% of what freelancers earn until they make $500 with a client. On top of that, freelancers now have to pay to apply for jobs using a system called Connects. These costs are adding up MASSIVELY and making it tough for freelancers, especially newcomers.

2. Customer Support Problems

Although Upwork offers 24/7 support, many users are frustrated with slow responses and unresolved issues, especially when dealing with disputes. This makes freelancers feel unsupported and vulnerable. Upwork almost always picks the side of the client in disputes.

3. Too Much Competition

Upwork is crowded with freelancers, making it hard to stand out. To win jobs, many freelancers feel forced to lower their rates, which is unsustainable in the long run.

Experienced freelancers on Upwork have been facing challenges with the platform’s proposal algorithms, which seem to be impacting their visibility in the client job sections. Despite having strong profiles and portfolios, many experienced users report that their proposals are being overlooked or buried beneath those of less experienced freelancers. This issue is largely attributed to Upwork’s algorithm changes, which appear to favor lower bids or newer freelancers, possibly to encourage competitive pricing and give new users a chance.

4. Client Quality

Freelancers have also raised concerns about the declining quality of clients on the platform. There’s an increasing number of low-paying, unrealistic job postings that demand a lot of work for very little pay. Additionally, some clients are less reliable, with issues like late payments, unclear job requirements, or disappearing altogether. Despite these red flags, freelancers still find themselves proposing to these jobs, often spending significant amounts of money on Connects, only to find that the jobs remain inactive or the clients never proceed to the interview stage. This not only wastes time and resources but also adds to the frustration as freelancers watch their Connects and money drain away on opportunities that never materialize.

Is It Still Worth It?

Upwork has helped many freelancers build their careers, but with rising costs, poor support, and increasing competition, many are starting to question if it’s still worth using.

4 Likes
2

@Mac interested in your opinion.

1 Like
3

Obviously connects have risen in price, and overall for your bigger freelancer it’s got more expensive but there are massive pro’s to this.

The past few months I’ve seen less scam jobs, thus freeing up time / connects.

Secondly, the cost to apply to a job has risen drastically, for your $20 data scraper this essentially wipes them out of the race, as their average client doesn’t go above $50, spending x5 to get a job won’t make sense.

What I see is for freelancers who are earning a higher amount $65 P/H+ it makes total sense, if not it’s became an easier game now the lower end / poorer quality have been eliminated, you pay more (yes) but the competition has sunk by probably 70%.

I found a lot of the time I’m having an interview with a client (I’m at $365 P/H) I’ve spent time applying for the job, interviewing, speaking to them on chat, then they hire some guy for $5 P/H and try take the ideas we had on a call, things like this will happen less.

(They normally come back to me after a month and I tell them where to shove it)

2 Likes
4

Great post @Teal !

1 Like
5

I’m curious—have you noticed any changes in the algorithm lately?

For me, despite having an even better-optimized profile and more better proposal texts than ever before, I’ve been spending about five times more on Connects compared to last year, and I’m almost getting zero traction from it.

Have you experienced anything similar, or do you think the algorithm changes might be impacting some people more than others?

6

I’m getting less invite to interviews, but I am also getting a huge amount less spam / scam jobs.

I think it probably evens out

1 Like
7

Note to myself: I won’t ever be able to afford a Mac.

8

As far as Upwork, all I can say is that they get 80 million unique visits per month, and traffic is rising, it doesn’t seem like they are going anywhere.

9

I offered you a way better deal but I got shunned!

10

We’re moving to Caymans. No tax = increased profits. Problem solved!

2 Likes
11

Freelancers working on there just get f*cked over, that’s all. They have a big monopoly.

For me it’s just 1 of my lead-gen platforms so I don’t care that much, but some people make their living on there.

Imagine swapd charging people insanely to reply to a ‘buyer request’ topic.

I’m moving to Monaco

1 Like
12

We will call it the @Teal’s Idea Fee.

1 Like
13

Connected with upwork last 5yrs. Now avoid most Shame is proposal boost lot of connect lol

1 Like
14

Feel free to share an example of your outreach @Teal

I consider myself #1 in the entire world on outreach, so happy to review.

From experience, as of 7-10 months ago, 99% of the hundreds of replies I received on various postings were bots. And many of those that weren’t were copying and pasting a generic message.

15

Have you considered Dubai?

16

Thanks, not looking to share my outreach due to competition and the involvement of personal information, but I’m pretty sure my outreach is in the top 1% of the platform. I’ve been doing this for years and have experience with cold/warm outreach & high ticket sales with high success across various platforms.

I did close to $250k in revenue from Upwork in 2023, and in 2024 it has just been a small fraction of that. Upwork made massive updates in 2024, where they changed their algorithms and their proposal system. The internet and forums are full of people complaining since the new updates.

1 Like
17

Personal information can be redacted. Also, you mentioned your outreach is no longer working, resulting in a loss for you, and that revenue is down significantly. If the outreach were still effective, I’d get why you’d be hesitant, but it’s not.

Best of luck either way, but still happy to help.

1 Like
18

With 250K you could start your own agency website.

19

I have 3 agencies my friend, Upwork is just a platform where I generate leads.

2 Likes