Rate Statistics

Thanks for the feedback - we will be getting some additional rate statistics up soon.  We can definitely break out rates by category, but I do think that there will be a fairly small difference in rates by category because so many providers select multiple categories.  

Either way, we;ll get the data up.
 

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

I also noticed that multiple categories (and in some cases all categories) show up in a profile.

Let me as a question - is it possible to break this out by say job versus profile?

For instance: if 20 new jobs are in "Programming" and 20 new jobs are in "Writing" can you show the rates that are being charged for them?

That data might be even more interesting to explore!

 Doreen

These rates include everything from $0.50/hr data entry jobs to $100.00+/hr programming jobs.  Providers charge what the market will bear.

If you want U$50.00/hr there are buyers willing to pay it if you convince them your work is worth that.

Give the site some time and see what it's like.

"If you want U$50.00/hr there are buyers willing to pay it if you convince them your work is worth that."

My suspicion is, that buyers from countries like the US or Europe are looking for cheap workforce here, not willing to consider the place where providers live. So the winner are people from countries where the cost of living is low, so that they don't have to charge much.

Isn't that true?

Another thing: I entered a rate in the hourly rate field (50$) and odesk added another 6 $ or so for themselve! Consider the number of jobs done on oDesk, it seems like they make quite an extreme amount of money with the site!

Don't get me wrong, I don't just like to rant about the site, I think the idea is quite good. But these things just don't seem right to me.

Please correct me if my view is distorted...

 Nico

It's pretty clear that we have either a lot of unemployed foreign college students looking for some pocket-cash or I need to move to India and find a way to live on $2 a day.

Welcome to the global economy... where US$10 gets you a family feast in one place, and can almost get one person a decent dinner in another. I am brand new to oDesk, but I was not born yesterday. That a technical writer can offer services for $8-10/hour is a cash cow, apparently, in some world locations, and good for them. But it is lowering the playing field in the first world, economically, and by that I mean the standard of living is being given a swift kick downward. Goodbye American dream.

Congratulations to the wealthy, who will always come out on top, as the middle and lower class folks become one big working (blue or white collar, professional or skilled) class. That expression on people's faces, like a deer in headlights as they view these rates? That's the look on lots of faces come ten years from today, when it is even harder to pull down a livable wage for relevant services in the U.S. We can thank our lucky starts, though, that so far China is only the master of manufacturing, with their artificially lowered money rate. When (not if) they move into the service industry and the professional realm, we'll all be working for Walmart as the catching-up global economy enjoys the fruits of a century of progress.

It is a shame, but even for $10, bad product is bad product. So the only thing to do is sell sell sell your skills and preferably don't cheat by overselling and wrecking it for everyone else. Or nab some venture capitalist money and launch your own overseas professional services company. Or: any openings at oDesk HQ?

On second thought, maybe I am missing my mission: I need to write a futurist series of articles. Or simply a book. Anyone have Richard Florida's number? Love the idea of the creative class, I am a bona-fide experiential type (I believe that's what he calls us), and it ain't easy being me these days. But I will see what's out there, and worse comes to worse, I can always leave my roots and go to the Pacific Rim.