Quality of Freelancers (way) down as prices/hr have doubled, Upwork - are you going to step in?

[60abfb17]

Hi all,

I heard upwork is MUCH better than FIVER and so I have been on this platform 2-3 months trying but there are BIG trends I am seeing consistently that Upwork needs to step in and do something about.

(1)  contractors skilled in something - whether convertkit or sq space or whatever, foreign countries are doubling their rates in the last 2-3 months,  15/hour becomes 20/hour in a month, becomes 30/hour = so the rates are going up and up almost now I am seeing prices for an african or asian based contractor the same as an american one . (FAIR  IF the quality of service, timeliness, expertise and ease of communication ALSO matches the increased rates - but that is not the case) 

(2) quality of service is plummetting,  AS SOON as I give any feedback, or have a feedback loop if it is  creative collaborative project OR put a timeline on deliverables = they quit the job completely and/or always come up with some "im sick or hospital or tooth surgery excuse - something long and convoluded" =  the hospital excuse has been provided to me now 4x in 2 months

OR

(3) they start to have an attitude, will not get on the phone to work out  a communication issue, will not even tell me what days they are working or what days they are not - just dissapear for 3-6 days and show up with passive aggresssive "hi, how are you?"  - like I am trying to run a business and you have dissapeared for a week and I cannot get in touch with you - how do you think i am?

what IS going on? bc I see almost american prices I am seeing quality plummet, laziness, attitudes, and lies about sickness and they just do not care. then they walk off a job , you have lost 5 days with them, you now have to start with anew contractor from scratch

the stress on biz owners is TREMENDOUS , the communication breakdowns frequent and the prices are ridiculous for the atittude and the never actually being online and willing to actually work and get something done to a timeline

and as soon as you give feedback on details (details matter in a start up) - they just up and quit

is it just me? 

[48f850a0]

Very funny how you are complaining on freelancers increasing their rates. There are alot of things you don't know that is going on currently, i think you should tour Upwork community a bit from the freelancer side, people aren't here to do cheap work forever, so rates will need to change as costs to use the platform increase.

[khushbu_gohil]

Per year based on some report living cost % also increase in market so freelancers take that reference as well

[the-right-writer]

I'm not concerned so much about being cheap, but the discriminatory comments. Lots of clients are cheap, but most of them just want the job done, and do not have ideas on who should get what, not based on skills but location.

[feed_my_eyes]

Personally, every time I find a client who's great to work with and happy to pay my rates, I never ignore them or give excuses about sickness so that I can stop working with them. So, maybe it is just you.

[the-right-writer]

The clients I work with have found quality freelancers in all corners of the world and are happy to pay them accordingly. Since you say this is not true, then, of course, you must have a lot of data.

Happy freelancers making good money don't lie, abandon jobs, and disappear.

How much are you paying these people?

[spectralua]

$15. Of course any american professional will be happy to work hard for this fantastic amount! 😁

Also look like this client is rasist and think that african peoples must work for free. 

[williamtcooper]

Work with freelancers that have a proven track record of success based upon current work and reviews.

For example I have completed 100+ Client engagements this year all with raving 5-star reviews.

Consider higher priced freelancers because frequently they are the best value because they complete the work in a fraction of the time properly.

For example if one freelancer is $200 per hour and completes the job in one hour, it's a total of $200. If another freelancer is $20 per hour and it takes them 20 hours, the total cost is $400 and if the work is wrong it's a redo.

[2bfd3e02]

The information you provided is a bit too specific. You are just judging everyone based on some freelancers who weren't able to meet your expectations.

There are a ton of ways to make sure if a freelancer is a good fit or not. Their reviews, profiles, work examples, and communication skills. Well obviously, you didn't notice any of these things and went straight for the rate, resulting in such an experience.

And yep, this is just you.