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It all started with one discussion on Reddit. At first, I just couldnât believe that one extremely important piece of information for every freelancer has been hiding in plain sight. I mean, Iâm a freelancer. Why should I be checking âHire Freelancersâ page in the first place? Right?
So, my kudos to Reddit user who noticed it first. Hereâs the link:
I wanted to check it myself. Itâs not a rocket science, but if you havenât used it before, which was my case, you may need a few clicks to get there. First, you go to Upworkâs website. Then, you click on a search icon in the top left corner in a search box âFind Freelancers.â
Then, hit the âFiltersâ button.
Hereâs what you get as a result:
As you can see, you donât even have to log in to access this page. So, this is something we can classify as the âpublicly available information.â Upwork has obviously nothing to hide.
Hereâs the catch. If you are looking at this page and particularly at the âEarned Amountâ section as a client, you may decide to give a chance to the freelancers who have earned more or less. Thatâs your right. This section isnât a big deal for you.
However, from a freelancerâs perspective the things are quite different here. These numbers make you restless and ask all kinds of questions. So, letâs have a closer look. Letâs do some math as well.
These Numbers Just Donât Make Any Sense
The first thing that caught my attention was the depressing number of my fellow freelancers who have âno earnings yet.â Now, I can play with Excel charts to make a point here, but that guy already did a nice job on Reddit.
Something isnât right with these numbers. The most confusing part for me is the number of freelancers with âany amount earned.â Why?
When you put it like this, which Upwork did, you get an impression that the number of freelancers who have earned something matches more or less the number of freelancers who havenât earned a single dollar. Itâs almost 1:1 ratio. How can this be true? Feel free to sum the number of freelancers who have earned $1+, $100+, $1K+, and $10K+. What you get is around 450K freelancers on Upwork with some earnings.
I just donât get it how has Upwork come up with the number of 1.7M of freelancers with âany amount earned?â
Iâm not one of those freelancers who just canât wait to split hairs. Letâs just be fair, honest, and fully transparent for the sake of new freelancers. Let the people know what are their real chances of making it on Upwork. Thatâs all.
Someone may say, hey thatâs the reality of the freelance world. The competition is fearsome and not all freelancers make it. Thereâs nothing Upwork can do about it.
Letâs see if this is true.
All Freelancers Are Equal, But Some Freelancers Are More Equal Than Others
I used to be both a âRising Talentâ and âTop Ratedâ freelancer on Upwork. I was so happy about it. Now, Iâm thinking about the bigger picture. Arenât we discriminating freelancers in these ways? First, we have the financial âcastesâ of freelancers. Then, we have the freelancer with our without the badges.
Someone may also say, but these guys worked hard to earn both the money and these badges. OK. Do we have to brag about these? Are there some other more subtle and respectful ways to âclassifyâ freelancers? Do we really need Top Gun freelancers? Shouldnât we leave it up to clients to decide with no âsuggestionsâ and ârecommendations?â
I donât need a badge because I donât want to be a sheriff in my freelance town. The absolute freedom, fair treatment, and justice for all freelancers no matter how much they earn. Isnât this what freelancing is supposed to be all and only about?
Follow me on Twitter and check out my other freelance-related blog posts!
Upwork Hunger Games: Are The Odds Ever In Our Favor? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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