I guess we all know Upwork. I've never been a huge fun of Upwork because majority of the clients there are looking for a cheap labor, which I am not. However, when I got a new client, I decided to take him to Upwork and test their escrow system which is pretty good. You know you will get paid.
Today I got a really disturbing email from some guy working for Upwork saying there is a video verification call where they will LOOK at me and ask me some questions.
Taking into account all the sexual harassment cases happening in Silicon Valley, it feels really disturbing that some guy has to LOOK at me, evaluate me, and then if I pass his test I will be able to stay on the site and get my hard-earned money. So if he looks at me and he doesn't like me, I don't get the money that I already earned?
I have thousands of questions in my head: will they record me? How will they use this video? Why I have to show off my self to some guy online so he could look at me?
Seriously? Is Upwork a web camming company now? Don't you have other means of verifying identity? Why don't you let women choose female representative to talk to? Why do I have to loose the money I earned from the client I BROUGHT to your platform only because I don't want some stranger to stare at me online?
I am sure many women are okay with that, but many are not.
I am lucky that I don't depend on Upwork and I can just leave it, but what about thousands of other female professionals who have to go through this humiliating experience? Women whose culture doesn't allow them to show their faces? Women who don't have a web cam or money to buy one? Women who simply don't feel comfortable web camming?
I guess it's time for women powered freelance website?