r/UpworkOfficial

I'm sure everyone who's been on Upwork for a while noticed that new jobs are getting 50+ proposals in minutes, and it's only getting worse lately.

We all know this isn't possible without using AI automation tools for proposals.

This is extremely damaging to the platform, because clients get overwhelmed with generic AI proposals in minutes, and many of them simply leave the platform without hiring anyone.

That's the biggest reason there are so many jobs with zero hires.

That's why so many people are complaining that their genuine proposals aren't even getting viewed. AI proposals have been drawning clients in meaningless noise.

If you do a basic search on the unnoficial Upwork sub, which has a bigger database, you'll notice that are many posts by clients complaining about this.

So, my question is, shouldn't it be easy enough to implement a verification tool to prevent these AI bots from flooding job posts with fake proposals within minutes?

I'm not an expert in this field, but shouldn't something like captcha (or equivalent) work?

Also, I'm sure it's not so hard to detect patterns indicating the use of automated proposal tools on profiles and punish them accordingly, right?

This is killing Upwork guys. It's doing massive damage to the platform, scaring all clients away.

You need to do something about it. You know it.

If a client wants to refer me to a friend who might want to hire me, how does my client go about this in accordance with the TOS? Will I have to work with the friend on Upwork as well?

Hi everyone,

I've been on Upwork for a while. $200k+ earned, 100% JSS, Top-Rated Plus for context.

Right now, I must have at least 20 dormant contracts, meaning that there hasn't been any interaction between me and these clients in more than 12 months.

Some clients just don't bother ending contracts, and it can snowball really fast into this.

Obviously, I know I can end these contracts myself, but they would show up as feedback gaps on my profile page, which certainly doesn't look good. Some of these clients might not even remember who you are, or these contracts can be currently managed by a completely different person from that company, and they might decide to leave bad feedback, which is even worse.

Also, there's no way to prevent these contracts from piling up since you can't know if a client will get in touch again until they don't. I've had clients getting back to me on the same contract after six months of inactivity. However, I think a 12-month period would be a reasonable limit to define a contract as permanently inactive.

To make it worse, these inactive contracts show up on your profile as "In Progress" which might scare prospective clients away since they might lead them to believe that you already have too much on your plate.

So, here's a simple feature suggestion that should be easy to implement: Automatically end contracts after an X period of total inactivity and prevent those contracts from showing up on your profile page after they are finalized.

The least Upwork could do to mitigate this is to prevent these contracts from showing up as "In Progress" on your profile page, I think.

What do you think?

Hi everyone,

I started Upwork 2 months ago and spent around $500–$600 on connects but still haven’t gotten a single contract. I have experience working with property management companies as a Residential Manager and also worked with short-term rental companies.

Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong or how I can land a job ASAP? Any advice about proposals, profile optimization, or getting first clients would really help.

Thank you

I completed all work with the extra work added, now I'm yet to get paid for any. Never felt so stupiiid in my 4 years in the platform 🥲

Just for funsies, I went to the Upwork homepage and noticed that it says "Hire experts who use AI to amplify their skills and impact — turning complex work into results." I wonder how many clients are being turned off by this. I certainly would never hire a freelancer who used AI to do the kind of work I would need done, and when I hired a couple of months ago I purposely weeded out anyone who said they used AI. What market research has Upwork done to prove that the client base actually wants freelancers to rely on AI? Or is this just more AI bandwagoning?

Here is the link for repeated post
https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022055532571866314507

This was last posted in April 15. How do I even recognize if this is Upwork milking or an actual post?

Hi guys, I am a BD and I got a client from USA and he wants me to bid on his upwork to get some projects. I live in Pakistan and I want to know should I login to his profile directly from Pakistani IP or should I use RDP/Any desk?

Can anyone please tell me what are the pros and cons of each option? or is there any other option that I can avail?

as upwork doesn't allow subcontracting work. but i am seeing this freelancer having insane number of jobs.

https://preview.redd.it/drbrixm0gc1h1.png?width=1477&format=png&auto=webp&s=e32b9959656f194ed1ec1893c4829fd8e927224e

One thing that genuinely frustrates me on Upwork:

Why are freelancers spending connects on jobs where the client may have already decided who they want to hire?

Sometimes it feels like the job is posted only as a formality, while the client already has a preferred freelancer in mind. Freelancers still spend time writing proposals, boosting connects, and waiting for responses with no real chance.

Why not add clearer indicators like:

• “Client already has a preferred freelancer”
• “Internal/pre-selected hire”

This would save freelancers a lot of wasted connects, time, and frustration.

Curious if other freelancers feel the same way.

Hello, I’m a software engineer with 2 years of experience. I’ve worked on industrial computer vision projects and data science projects( time-series applications)

I live in a poor country where salaries are extremely low compared to the workload , extra hours , stress. At my last job i earned around $875/month while working on industrial-level projects for large companies, and most of the profits went to the company owner.

Because of this, I’ve started thinking seriously about freelancing. I already have a small network of local clients, but the pay is still not great, and since my friend brings me the clients, he also takes a percentage.

That’s why I’m considering trying Upwork.

i dont want to waste money on Connects, so i’ve been thinking about a long-term strategy: slowly building my Upwork profile in a niche like data science (time series) / computer vision by asking some of my local clients to pay me through Upwork. I would continue doing this for a few months to build reviews and credibility naturally.

How good do you think this strategy is? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Is that a good average? HOw many proposals did it take you to get your first interview? was it a video interview with the camera on?

Hey everyone,

I recently started an Upwork profile focused on digital marketing, SEO, and AI visibility services.

The biggest challenge I’m facing is that most clients naturally prefer freelancers with reviews, completed projects, and earnings history. Since my account is new, I currently have 0 ratings and no completed projects visible yet.

For those who successfully grew a new Upwork account from scratch:

• How did you land your first few clients?
• Did you reduce pricing initially or avoid that?
• What type of proposals worked best?
• Is it better to niche down heavily at the beginning?
• Any mistakes I should avoid in the first 2-3 months?

Would genuinely appreciate practical advice from people who’ve already crossed this stage

I've been on Upwork for several years, with $60K+ in Total earnings, 15 Total jobs, 475 Total hours and a 100% Job Success score.

For that whole time, my offering has been around sales strategy, sales process, sales coaching, sales enablement, and interim sales leadership.

Over the last six months, my work dried up completely (boosted profile, lots of credits spent, very active in creating highly customized proposals with Loom videos, optimized my profile according to all the best practice advice).

I'm getting no interviews, hardly any views on my proposals, and while other non-Upwork channels still work okay, this particular platform now feels like a waste of time.

Up until last year, there were always A LOT of projects being offered specific to my skillset and my offer, but there now seems to be only a handful live at any one time, so there's not many jobs to apply for specific to that.

I have been invited to countless commission-only sales execution roles which I will never do (taking on all the risk for a client is a fool's game), and even though I keep declining those, they still come through thick and fast every day.

My current idea is that I should totally change my profile and my offer away from sales strategy towards marketing strategy, marketing planning, digital strategy (I do have that background and credentials/track record to back it up).

It seems like there are loads more jobs in that category.

My concern is that if I change my profile focus completely, will Upwork even notice it has changed, and what challenges will I face about getting that profile visible to potential jobs. Even my jobs feed is all commission-based sales and it's driving me nuts.

Please help me! I need your advice.

Thanks.