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What does Uber currently do to people that you hate? Uber currently provides people with more than 2 Million jobs [1]. Uber drivers/couriers made almost $13 Bil

What does Uber currently do to people that you hate? Uber currently provides people with more than 2 Million jobs [1]. Uber drivers/couriers made almost $13 Billion in the US alone last year [2]. [1] https://medium.com/@gc/ubers-path-forward-b59ec9bd4ef6 https://medium.com/@gc/ubers-path-forward-b59ec9bd4ef6 [2] https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Uber-drivers-in-Bay-Area-made-1-07-billion-last-13105699.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Uber-drivers-in...

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marmaduke 8y ago
Treat people like freelancers while paying them like low-wage waiters? $13bn/2mn jobs is $6k/job/yr, not so impressive compared to welfare.
- cocobongo 8y ago
  Personally I think Uber drivers/couriers are freelancers. Uber drivers can work whatever hours they like. If they want to work 1 hour a day, they can. If they want to work 10 hours a day, they can. That's not something that non-freelancers can do. For the same reason, I don't think it's fair to compare the average Uber driver salary to a full-time salary. Some Uber drivers work full-time, but I'd guess most don't. Lots probably only work a few hours a week. Uber provides students/parents/anyone with a way to make extra money on the side. Also, from the article I linked to, 900k US drivers make $13 Billion a year. So $14k-$15k/job/year. When you factor in that many (probably most) Uber drivers are only working part-time, that's significant income from a super flexible job.
  - marmaduke 8y ago
    > I think Uber drivers/couriers are freelancers yep so they should be compensated more, not less, in sight of the precarity of their job > When you factor in that many (probably most) Uber drivers are only working part-time, that's significant income from a super flexible job super flexible for whom? the drivers? or for Uber? There are two sides to the gig style work, one side is a corp that's got teams of PhDs and a cloud calculating its optimal risk-reward strategy, and the other side some poor people trying to make money. How this can possibly turn out well for the latter is a pipe dream.
    - cocobongo 8y ago
      Freelancers are compensated whatever the market values them at. If they can get better pay/work elsewhere, then they do. Driving for Uber is as flexible job as it gets. I don't see how it's flexible for Uber - Uber can only offer a ride if a driver decides out of their own free will to accept a ride. For many people (2+ Million), driving for Uber is worth the money. They decided that it's a better gig than their other options. If they decide that it's not worth it, then they stop. And because it's such a flexible job, they don't even need to give two weeks notice. Even though you think that driving for Uber isn't worth the money, millions of people around the world do.
      - marmaduke 8y ago
        Begging for money in the street is even more flexible — no car required — but I doubt you’d say those doing so are satisfied. > free will to accept a ride Whenever money is involved, free will goes out the window. It’s naive to think of all these people as rational actors.

deleted 8y ago

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marmaduke 8y ago

Treat people like freelancers while paying them like low-wage waiters? $13bn/2mn jobs is $6k/job/yr, not so impressive compared to welfare.

cocobongo 8y ago
Personally I think Uber drivers/couriers are freelancers. Uber drivers can work whatever hours they like. If they want to work 1 hour a day, they can. If they want to work 10 hours a day, they can. That's not something that non-freelancers can do. For the same reason, I don't think it's fair to compare the average Uber driver salary to a full-time salary. Some Uber drivers work full-time, but I'd guess most don't. Lots probably only work a few hours a week. Uber provides students/parents/anyone with a way to make extra money on the side. Also, from the article I linked to, 900k US drivers make $13 Billion a year. So $14k-$15k/job/year. When you factor in that many (probably most) Uber drivers are only working part-time, that's significant income from a super flexible job.
- marmaduke 8y ago
  > I think Uber drivers/couriers are freelancers yep so they should be compensated more, not less, in sight of the precarity of their job > When you factor in that many (probably most) Uber drivers are only working part-time, that's significant income from a super flexible job super flexible for whom? the drivers? or for Uber? There are two sides to the gig style work, one side is a corp that's got teams of PhDs and a cloud calculating its optimal risk-reward strategy, and the other side some poor people trying to make money. How this can possibly turn out well for the latter is a pipe dream.
  - cocobongo 8y ago
    Freelancers are compensated whatever the market values them at. If they can get better pay/work elsewhere, then they do. Driving for Uber is as flexible job as it gets. I don't see how it's flexible for Uber - Uber can only offer a ride if a driver decides out of their own free will to accept a ride. For many people (2+ Million), driving for Uber is worth the money. They decided that it's a better gig than their other options. If they decide that it's not worth it, then they stop. And because it's such a flexible job, they don't even need to give two weeks notice. Even though you think that driving for Uber isn't worth the money, millions of people around the world do.
    - marmaduke 8y ago
      Begging for money in the street is even more flexible — no car required — but I doubt you’d say those doing so are satisfied. > free will to accept a ride Whenever money is involved, free will goes out the window. It’s naive to think of all these people as rational actors.