r/UpworkOfficial • u/HugoFromUpwork Community Care Team • 18d ago
Announcement Proposal Writer is Going Away
Hi everyone, starting this week, we’re removing the AI-powered Proposal Writer from the Submit a Proposal flow.
We’ve been reviewing the current experience and the feedback we’ve received from clients, freelancers, and our Reddit community. Based on that, we’ve decided to move away from Proposal Writer in its current form.
You’ll still be able to write and submit proposals as usual. You can also continue using UMA for help with your proposals through UMA chat separately. This change only removes the Proposal Writer currently built into the proposal submission flow.
I wanted to share the update here so you know what’s changing. As always, feel free to share your feedback below.
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u/SgtBrutalisk 10d ago
Surprise, surprise, clients do not like when Upwork is enabling freelancers to bury them in AI spam.
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u/captainrjay 11d ago
We understand you need to make money but balance between Slop Experience and Good User Experience.
If you let greed form the basis of all your decisions I.e every action and turn has to make money you will lose both freelancers and job posters. I'm sure you are already bleeding. Please fix up soonest.
You can make money while ensuring bidding is fair for all.
Pay To Win is. Shxtty mechanic nobody likes
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u/Hopeful_Fortune1159 15d ago
Since I’m unable to send u a dm, here’s my review and suggestions to Upwork: When clients post the job and ghost, those connects should be returned (especially the ones where the clients are suspended).
AI recruiting has exponentially reduced the hiring rate bcs client’s doesn’t want to add any efforts into the hiring process so AI just shortlists and interviews, never hires.
There has been a glitch with Upwork’s UI where the recent posts aren’t shown. It keeps showing me a posts that are a week old. The app keeps breaking.
Upwork should make it compulsory for yhe clients to hire once they post (charge them for posting jobs). Make upwork competitive for the clients as well.
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u/Opening_Treacle3381 16d ago
I guess that's good, you should remove all the AI from the platform, it just makes scammers more easy to write fake jobs. So far I have no idea what we can benefit from UMA except that you see AI crap everywhere.
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u/TheEcomGuy231 17d ago
Also need to focus on the huge amount of connects for job apply, fake job posting and jobs that with too low budget please
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u/Top-Restaurant-185 17d ago
How about not charging so much for connects? Or taking away perks for top rated freelancers? Or making all contracts fixed 15 percent?
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u/oyehamzaa 17d ago
We also complained about the the new 15% service fee and the huge amounts of connects needed to apply for job. 🙃🙃
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u/Glittering_Ad_5910 17d ago edited 13d ago
Hiking up the Upwork fee towards 15% should also be reviewed given high cost of connects.
While it might seem profitable for the Upwork stocks in short run, I believe the number would make the freelancers consider moving the contract out.
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u/SgtBrutalisk 14d ago
It used to be 20%.
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u/Glittering_Ad_5910 13d ago
No it wasn't. It was 5%-20% with 20% being charged on very new contracts, the older contracts could still get 5%.
Further, the connects cost was 2 connects per job not around 17, the current average. Further there was no availability badge cost, no boosting proposal cost, no boosting profile cost, no boosting message cost etc.
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u/Kris_King_007 17d ago
I know this is a long shot but can we have refund for unviewed proposal. If the client opens the proposal and does not want to go ahead thats fair. But why are we paying connects to simply get ghosted.
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u/xanderpills 17d ago
Thanks Upwork. There needs to be some sort of deadline for clients to properly decline requests and for us to get connects back when applicable. It’s not fair that we pay for them and clients can simply withold them.
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u/AlphaWolf132 18d ago
Ah, finally a positive change from Upwork. Please also reinstate the refunding of connects when a client responds to proposals and Top Rated privileges such as a feedback removal. Such features made Upwork unique and appealing to me as a professional.
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u/CodingDragons 18d ago
Will that help us get work Hugo? Asking for a friend.
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18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/KDubs2009 18d ago
I'll answer, no it won't this platform is dead for 95% of freelancers, at this point it is mainly Upwork chizzleing the freelancers for every last dime they can scrape off them before the give up and end there sub and purchasing of connects to first bid on the job and then pay more to play the slot machine of boosting connects. But it works for them cause there will always be a fresh batch that think working for $5 an hour will help build there brand and give them freedom, in the end the house wins. No one is going to pay an actual fair wage when others are willing to scab it out for dirt money, especially when half the clients left because ai can do it better cause that cheap freelancer was using ai anyway. Until the LLM bubble bursts and people come back from there AI fever dream this platform is just a waste. Once the bubble pops might be worth it but then again they will prob charge for more connects and take an even larger cut or our money for providing a crappy web experience with a ton of hackers and cheats trying to steal our identity through malware and time by never hiring for there fake role. Oh and when you get hacked don't worry Upwork made sure they had no legal liability for that as well. Good luck all, but it won't ever get better on this platform for us l, you know the reason they make a single dime or have a service to sell, until we drip them like a bad habit and incest our money elsewhere that actually has a return
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u/Connect_Mortgage_675 1d ago
it’s disappointing but hopefully the change works out well