Around August of 2019, we tested sending e-mail nudges to a small group of non-US, non-Western Euro FL's who have been identified as potential ghosters.
In a nutshell, this test aimed to prevent bad outcomes caused by job abandonment or slow response of freelancers under contract. This is by helping our users with improving communication frequency.
- We will reach out to FL via e-mail to spur responsiveness.
- If FL is still unresponsive, we will work with CL to determine if new FL should be identified for the job.
We expect that FL's will respond to the e-mail thread and be routed directly to the appropriate team. If for some reason they contact us using a new ticket/e-mail, we can assign them in the "improving outcomes" group in ZD.
NOTE: THIS IS NO LONGER A TEST, IT’S A FULL-FLEDGED INITIATIVE
Here's an example of the email sent to freelancers about anti-ghosting:
FAQs:
Why are you sending these messages?
While the majority of jobs between clients and freelancers on Upwork end well, we know that there are some jobs that do not. One of the top concerns from clients is when freelancers are slow to respond or appear to have abandoned a job. These messages from us are sent as a reminder that there is an unanswered message from a client that the freelancer has not yet responded to. If you do not find these reminders helpful, you can simply ignore them.
Why now?
Just as we have protections in place to ensure a freelancer is paid for work done, we are also expanding programs to help improve outcomes for jobs that may not be on a path to success. Based on feedback from clients, we know that negative outcomes are often caused by poor communication. If you do not find these reminders helpful, you can ignore them.