Lack of Jobs - What is Going On?
I know this has been posted before but what the hell is happening with the number of projects that are being posted? As it stands, in the writing category, there are 150 jobs. Just a few months ago, this was sitting at 200, then 180 and now it is down to 150.
Is there any admin around to provide any guidance or assistance on this? The thing is, the majority of the jobs being posted are now way below the rate that anyone would charge. One job as an example is a full website rewrite. The site has more than 1,00,000 words and for that I would charge £40,000 at my usual rate but the pay being offered is £500.....what kind of payment is that?
I have been looking at the traffic on the site and it is sitting higher during August than it was during July and June yet this is not translating into queries, jobs and orders. What is going on?
I think us long-standing members do have some kind of right when it comes to knowing what is happening, bearing in mind that some of us have earned a living from here for many, many years.
So, does anyone have any insight into what is happening and why?
Thanks
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AI has had a noticeable effect on the amount of writing jobs. People prefer to produce a Chat GPT script and then slightly amend it. I know - I've been told by regular customers. Transcription's gone that way too.
I'm not bothering with PPH to the extent I used to. Perhaps the odd £25 proofread of an evening instead of watching TV, but my mainstay is private clients in industries which are established and cannot use AI (legal and medical reporting to courts).
PPH has not picked up like I'd hoped, and I'm not confident it will.
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A lot of the jobs don't come to anything though. A while back they'd be mentioning 'telegram.' Now we're aware of that, they've changed tactic.
Look at the amount of jobs which get cancelled or stay here without being awarded. There's a great increase in those - scammers.
I don't think new reputable clients will join PPH. Not sure where they would go, but I think this platform's had its day and that's due to its own mismanagement as much as anything.
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I recently went back to upworks and to be honest I wish I never as I have had countless people from London messaging me wanting an executive CV rewritten for $15 dollars. I doubt I could get lunch for that. People budgets have reduced but freelancing unless in real technical areas (web development/SEO) are just dropping of the radar.
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I have spoken to clients who work for these big companies that have massive content needs and even they have seen orders drop off. However, they are hopeful that the new Google update will change things - https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/
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Google have been saying things like that for a while, but I don't see us getting back to what the internet was like 20 years ago where a few web pages could get you free customers and a couple of pence per click spent on advertising could get you plenty more.
Google must also be having problems with AI, because people are querying AI instead of a search engine, which means they are bypassing any advertising. I suspect that whatever Google do to update their searches will be to try to counter that. -
Those projects started popping up some time ago. They were posted by new users, usually from a variety of countries and always for a fairly large price, and the same price was getting used on all of them. I applied for one or two and then got suspicious and started ignoring them.
I wondered if they were AI generated because they would be made up of text in sentences but it didn't really say anything when you put it all together. I noticed them because I had not been bidding on anything because there were no suitable projects and then I started seeing projects in my field, but they were like this. -
This is one of the reason why I no longer bid as they are mainly scams.
Also another new one is fake freelancer with AI generated profile pictures and then getting fake reviews to pass the probation period.
Examples like this
peopleperhour.com/freelancer/business/manzar-abbas-creative-graphic-designer-zzaajmaz
This person has got recent 5-star reviews but also purchased similar services from the people who left him reviews but they are offers he sells
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Hi All,
Just another check in to see how things have gone for you?
I have noticed a huge change in the last two months and I know this is being felt with a ton of other writers - I am seeing this on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as on PPH.
Again this morning, I have lost another large client - it seems to be one kick in the teeth after another.
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To add to this, I have also had some tough clients over the last month or so where they have taken forever to pay or even reply. One I have been working with since the 7th of March, whereby the project was around a total of 3000 words. I could have had it completed in a day or two at the most. He wanted the job split into two because he wasn't happy paying the full amount in one go.
He gives, me the four pages he needs, I complete them, send them over and then he questions why the pages have the names they have (they are the names he gave me). Then he said there was a page missing, and after checking the workstream for said page, he never even mentioned it. Then he accuses me of rushing! It has been two months for 3000 words!!!!! After completing the first part of the project and not getting any response from him, I sent the invoice around two weeks ago. I then proceeded to cancel the proposal for the second part of the project stating that I cannot work with him and at the pace he is working.
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Adam, that is kind of what I have been seeing. I think the fact that I am seeing some very long posts on LinkedIn and Facebook discussing the same thing tells me that this is industry wide and impacting people around the world. It is very sad that our livelihoods are being ripped away from us. This is no longer the fault of PPH but it is clearly down to AI.
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I've been saying for a while that this is down to AI. Jobs for blog writing, etc are non-existent. Transcription too - due to Otter, etc.
I've not earnt anything from PPH during April, and so far during May - but private customers do provide me with repeat work. Some of it is niche and not suitable for AI, but the trend is very worrying. We need to be shifting our skills.
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I am still staggered that this has happened so rapidly. I am seeing news reports saying that AI will take roles in six years - it is already taking roles and it is going to get worse. As I have said in this, I know of people who have had to get fulltime jobs. I have seen the leaderboard on PPH change before my eyes on a monthly basis with scores dropping off a cliff. I am all for shifting skills but I honestly have no idea where to go with this. If people do not want to use writers then there is not a lot I can do. I have been cold emailing hundreds of companies, I have been applying for freelance openings across job boards but nothing is coming of anything.
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What I'm seeing is a bit different, but I'm not a writer. On PPH I'm a programmer and the problem is too many freelancers and not enough work to go round. That has just got steadily worse over the last 5 years. It's so bad now I don't even look at the posted jobs. I'm only doing repeat work here.
I have been using other skills and started doing online maths tuition 3 years ago. I have a teaching qualification, so it isn't alien to me. I'm seeing the same problems. It's freelance work with agencies or online platforms, not unlike PPH. There are now far too many freelance tutors chasing a decreasing amount of work. In this case it is not AI that's the problem, it is the lack of disposable income for the parents who would be paying for a bit of top-up private tuition.
It is eye opening to see the similarity in the problems. I do some work through a tuition agency who gives me a phone number of a parent to contact, rather than just booking me for some tuition. I have had a running correspondence with the parent, including a Zoom call with the child to find his requirements, but they haven't actually agreed the price and the terms and I can't close the deal because I'm a sub contractor. I haven't been paid anything for all that. I have had exactly the same problems with a programming agency a few years ago. They started by giving me work but then I started getting "leads" where I was wasting my time chasing projects that didn't exist and I couldn't negotiate over prices because that was against the terms of the agency work.
I work through an online platform, which is worse. There are far too many tutors listed and I get very few enquiries and most don't get beyond a message or two. The company does at least have a lower limit on the hourly rate than can be charged, unlike PPH, but it is a fairly low limit. I feel I'm pricing myself out of the work yet I don't get paid enough for the work I do. -
I have signed up for Fiverr. I have been on there for a couple of years but it has been so competitive I don't get jobs. I have dropped my prices down to a price I wouldn't usually charge but I need to try and build up my rep on there just to increase my chances of work.
Over the last year, I have lost one client who was paying me £2500 a month, another who was paying me £1200 a month, another who was paying me £800 and I have just lost another today who was paying me £600 a month. These clients have all gone down the route of AI.
I am a positive person and I am seeing some writers saying that the clients they lost a year ago to AI are slowly coming crawling back. I am at a point where I am now thinking how long do you leave it before you consider your future? I have a month holiday booked in the summer, and if I was to go into paid employment, nobody would take me on because of that, so I basically have to ride out the next four months at least.
To add to this, I was also VAT registered. As you know, once you earn over a certain amount you have to register and that is where I was in Oct of 2022. Last week I deregistered to reduce my accountancy fees because my earnings had dropped below the threshold.Very sad times.
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Indeed very very sad times, I was earning £4-6k per month, but now months without any inquiry. I am working in the construction and MacDonald to pay the bills now. I understand that AI is the main issue, but freelancers from Asia has impacted the freelancing by accepting the low budget projects that usually cost thousands, but they are doing it for under £100.
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I was on fiverr but even priced at the lowest point you won't get noticed - the site is also I find really targeted for the US market. I gave up and again Upwork is just a big rip off. Like you Craig I am finding clients not paying immediately making it nearly 24 days for a payment which is just pointless and a massive implication on cashflow when orders do come in.
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Adam, this month and last month have been the worst months for on-time payments. I am hoping that the market changes in the coming months but I cannot see it. I think in time people will realise that AI content is not the solution as you still need people to check work and carry out research. It's hugely frustrating and worrying.
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