I was checking my email today and noticed an interesting email from Upwork. As mentioned in my post title, they have implemented a new filtering tool for clients to allow them to only post jobs for people who are verified to be located in the United States.
My Thoughts
One of my strategies that I have used while I applied to jobs on Upwork(assuming the client was U.S. based) was to highlight the fact that I am a native-English speaker, from the U.S. and that their instructions would not be lost in translation.
I think this strikes a chord with some clients, especially those who have had difficulties with communication with foreign workers who did not speak English as their first language. I definitely think that this is a good move on Upwork’s part.
I’m sure the people who are based outside of the US won’t be too thrilled about it. I can’t wait to see what type of schemes they use to get around it. Maybe the selling of U.S.-based/verified accounts will become a thing?
How Will They Know If Someone Is US Based?
According to their FAQ page they’ll automatically confirm your location in some instances and in other instances they’ll require that you add a verified U.S. based bank account.