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LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

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Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#31

Post by seanwilson »

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211064098-Log-T...

> It’s easy to bill your time using the Upwork desktop app. ...

> When you have logging turned on, the app takes random screen captures six times per hour—once per 10-minute billing segment. Anything visible on your screen will display in your Work Diary, but you have the option, in Settings, to choose whether the screen captures your entire desktop or only the active screen.

Are people aware UpWork encourages monitoring freelancers like this? I would never work for a platform that promotes this or want to subject someone to being monitored like this.

Can you really not ask the client questions before submitting a proposal either?

Is all this just taking advantage of freelancers who don't know how to market themselves, or am I missing something?

For all the freelance projects I've found myself, some detailed discussion was required beforehand to check what the client really needs, and I aim for terms that don't lead to being micromanaged (like fixed price projects based on results not time) so I can't see the appeal.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#32

Post by 0xB31B1B »

ArtTimeInvestor wrote: post #5

It will be interesting to see a third public company building a work marketplace. Upwork and Fiverr are already a godsend when you build a startup. But they still leave a lot to be desired. From a buyers perspective, Upwork feels more solid than Fiverr. In terms of freelancers and system functionality. One thing that is annoying on both platforms is that they send you an invoice after every gig. The first one that wi…

None of the platforms will ever send you a single invoice for a group of contractors for legal reasons. Each contractor needs to invoice you directly due to US employment law. Other arrangements are possible if you pay an agency instead of an individual, but upwork isn’t and agency, they are a marketplace.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#35

Post by tmikaeld »

seanwilson wrote: post #31

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211064098-Log-T... > It’s easy to bill your time using the Upwork desktop app. ... > When you have logging turned on, the app takes random screen captures six times per hour—once per 10-minute billing segment. Anything visible on your screen will display in your Work Diary, but you have the option, in Settings, to choose whether the screen captures your entire desktop or o…

Used to be optional, so the client could require this or not.

Yeah, if you take a job on Upwork, you'll never be able to do work with that freelancer off-site ever.

It seems they actually enforce this too, I've read of many that's been either banned on suspicion.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#36

Post by sergiotapia »

seanwilson wrote: post #31

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211064098-Log-T... > It’s easy to bill your time using the Upwork desktop app. ... > When you have logging turned on, the app takes random screen captures six times per hour—once per 10-minute billing segment. Anything visible on your screen will display in your Work Diary, but you have the option, in Settings, to choose whether the screen captures your entire desktop or o…

As someone who worked on Upwork for a long time and literally owe them my career, it was great and I would do it again in a heartbeat. A long time ago I made a living on that platform exclusively.

Thanks to Upwork I got to work with US clients and save enough money to migrate back home to the US with my wife and children.

By using their time tracker I was guaranteed to get paid for work, they take the doubt out of the equation. Track time and you will get paid. It was 100% a worthy trade-off for me. The results speak for themselves.

Now today I have no idea what the platform is like. I haven't worked there for in quite some time.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#37

Post by antupis »

praptak wrote: post #30
ArtTimeInvestor wrote: post #5

It will be interesting to see a third public company building a work marketplace. Upwork and Fiverr are already a godsend when you build a startup. But they still leave a lot to be desired. From a buyers perspective, Upwork feels more solid than Fiverr. In terms of freelancers and system functionality. One thing that is annoying on both platforms is that they send you an invoice after every gig. The first one that wi…

Being a commodity sucks. If you are an expert you have better options than putting yourself for sale as commodity.

yeah it is business model problem because those mystical 10x programmers are not commodities and Fiverr and Upwork are tuned for commodity business like logo design etc.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#38

Post by Gustomaximus »

seanwilson wrote: post #31

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211064098-Log-T... > It’s easy to bill your time using the Upwork desktop app. ... > When you have logging turned on, the app takes random screen captures six times per hour—once per 10-minute billing segment. Anything visible on your screen will display in your Work Diary, but you have the option, in Settings, to choose whether the screen captures your entire desktop or o…

I use a client like this for new freelancers/employees that are working full time or larger jobs. It is intrusive but 100% is needed for some people or they take the piss. I'm too busy to follow their workload and sit there estimating times of jobs match hours.

I check it one a week for ~10min to see hours logged per day and quick random to check its not loads of time wasting.

It feels intrusive but there is little difference than people walking past someone in an open plan office + they can turn it off anytime they want to do personal.

For me I see this as really useful for managing Jr remotes. And personally would have no issue running it if I was working remote. I think the pain points would be more about how management use it, and in its worse its little different from having a micro manager in a on-site office experience.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#39

Post by ArtTimeInvestor »

0xB31B1B wrote: post #32
ArtTimeInvestor wrote: post #5

It will be interesting to see a third public company building a work marketplace. Upwork and Fiverr are already a godsend when you build a startup. But they still leave a lot to be desired. From a buyers perspective, Upwork feels more solid than Fiverr. In terms of freelancers and system functionality. One thing that is annoying on both platforms is that they send you an invoice after every gig. The first one that wi…

None of the platforms will ever send you a single invoice for a group of contractors for legal reasons. Each contractor needs to invoice you directly due to US employment law. Other arrangements are possible if you pay an agency instead of an individual, but upwork isn’t and agency, they are a marketplace.

This does not hold true for Fiverr.

On Fiverr, the identity of the seller is completely concealed from the buyer. Usually the seller does not even tell you their full name, let alone send you an invoice.

This is actually a big plus of Fiverr. You only get invoices from one company in Israel (Fiverr) instead of invoices from all around the world.

It just sucks that they send you an invoice after every gig. They should have an option to send you one each month. Payment could still be after each gig. Just the invoices should be combined.

Re: LinkedIn is building a gig marketplace

#40

Post by KDJohnBrown »

It will be garbage, just another spam avenue. I’ve received over 3,500 “InMail”s and connection requests in my last year of unemployment.

Maybe 6 of them were worth accepting. The rest were just incompetent headhunters, mostly from one of four or five spammers in India (esolutionsinc is the most prolific).

I don’t see how anything LinkedIn can do will be anything but trash.

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