Are “Ghost Jobs” Really a Problem on Upwork? I Analyzed My Last 20 Proposals
I've been seeing people here talking for a while about “ghost jobs” on Upwork, and even accusing Upwork of creating fake jobs just to make money from Connects.
I just came back from vacation, and for the first time, I went almost 30 days without getting a single contract. So I looked at the 20 jobs I applied to during this period.
Only 4 resulted in a hire. Of the other 16, 5 had no response at all from the client, while 11 show “Interviewing.”
But “Interviewing” doesn't necessarily mean the client actually interviewed anyone. If a client sends 5 invites and 5 freelancers accept, they can automatically appear as “Interviewing,” even if the client never replies.
One job, for example, had 5 invites, 2 interviewing and 3 unanswered, but the client hasn't been active for over two weeks. They may have never even replied to the two freelancers they invited.
So what is actually happening? Are clients really getting 20 to 30 proposals and finding nobody? Are freelancers creating fake jobs to check competitors' portfolios? Or is Upwork actually allowing fake jobs to generate Connects?
I don't know, but I think Upwork urgently needs to review its job posting policies, especially after increasing freelancer fees and the number of Connects required to apply.
And honestly, this would be very easy to fix. Give clients up to 7 days to review applications and hire someone. If they don't hire anyone within that period, deactivate the job and refund the Connects to the freelancers, or make the client pay to keep the posting active.
It's not complicated. The solution is there. They just need to want to implement it.
What do you think?