Upwork Announces Major Fee Reduction, Boosting Earnings for Freelancers
Upwork Announces Major Fee Reduction, Boosting Earnings for Freelancers
Upwork, the largest freelancer marketplace, has recently announced four major changes to its platform. These changes include the removal of the sliding-scale service fee structure, work-to-hire contracts, an increase in the cost to submit proposals, and changes to the Upwork Connect rollover and expiration policies.
Effective May 3, 2023, Upwork will be replacing its sliding-scale service fee structure with a simple flat fee of 10%, which will be applicable for all clients, regardless of their lifetime billings or earnings. This change aims to eliminate confusion and lower the barrier to entry for new freelancers. Upwork's new fee structure will also make the service fees more competitive compared to other platforms such as Fiverr, which charges a flat 20% fee on all earnings.
The second change is the addition of work-to-hire contracts. Clients can now mark a job as a contract-to-hire opportunity, allowing freelancers to seek full-time employment on the platform. The standard Upwork Terms of Service still apply to work-to-hire contracts, and the client and freelancer must keep their relationship on the platform for two years or pay the conversion fee.
The third change is an increase in the cost to submit proposals. Upwork users noticed that the platform has increased the cost to submit proposals from 1-6 Connects to 2-8 Connects. Freelancers use Connects to bid on jobs, boost proposals, and purchase a boosted availability badge on the platform. Each Connect is valued at $0.15, and the change means that it will now cost $0.30-$1.20 to apply to jobs via the Jobs Feed, not including the optional additional expense of boosting.
Lastly, Upwork has implemented changes to the Upwork Connects rollover and expiration policy. Previously, Connects had no expiration date and could be carried over from month to month. However, freelancers can now carry over a maximum of 200 Connects to the next billing cycle, and any additional Connects will expire at the end of the month.
These changes are significant and have been implemented to address negative customer feedback on the platform's previous fee structure and to attract more clients and freelancers. The removal of the sliding-scale service fee structure and the introduction of work-to-hire contracts will likely make the platform more appealing to clients, while the change in the cost to submit proposals and the Connects rollover and expiration policy will impact freelancers. In general, Upwork is making strides to improve its platform and maintain its position as the largest freelancer marketplace.
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