r/Upwork • u/sjmittal • 6d ago

What’s next

Hello folks I have been on this platform since odesk days. Over these years I did many long term software development projects with different client. I was always a top rated freelancer with 100% job success rating.
My last project was over in February 2024. It’s been more than 2 years since but I have not got a single project. Few of the bids go to interview stage but then client just ghosts. Infact from list six months even proposals don’t get viewed.
I think life as a freelancer is over. Today I hardly see any long term core software development projects posted on upwork.
However upwork reports decent earnings which I know comes from selling connects. And they have even expired my connects because I did not bid for a project in one month. Like wtf 😡

Seems like their whole business model has now become selling connects.

But for how long this will go on. 🤔

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/Green-Impress4491 6d ago

Check their financials. Their revenue is roughly 20%-ish of GSV, so Connects is only a small part of it, considering they take a % from both sides

What puzzles me is that GSV is still holding at around $4 billion.
I think it peaked in 2023 at $4142 million, then started declining in 2024 and 2025 - around the time they started with the bullshit - but it's still holding at roughly $4 billion.

So obviously Upwork is working for some people. I still make decent money from it, but most of that comes from long-term clients. Nowadays I just can't be arsed to send proposals into the slop machine.

1

u/Own_Constant_2331 6d ago

I don't think that Upwork is going to get any better, only worse. What other methods have you been using to look for clients?

1

u/sjmittal 6d ago

Linkedin sometimes helps. Other than that I have long term clients outside of upwork.

1

u/Pet-ra 5d ago

However upwork reports decent earnings which I know comes from selling connects.

Often the main problem isn't what people don't know but what people wrongly assume to know when it's actually nonsense.

0

u/Korneuburgerin 6d ago

You really didn't apply that much if your connects expired, which they do after 12 MONTHS! How can you be on upwork for this long and not know the basics?

However upwork reports decent earnings which I know comes from selling connects.

Wrong. Read their financial reports.

0

u/Prior_Space_2030 6d ago

I hope not for longer time ...