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“Unique niches” of the job market that exploit the people filling them must be regulated out of existence. Uber drivers who very carefully manage their overhead
by bt848 7y ago
“Unique niches” of the job market that exploit the people filling them must be regulated out of existence. Uber drivers who very carefully manage their overhead generally still earn a pittance, near minimum wage or even below it. Uber mostly relies on the ignorance of their drivers who essentially accelerate the conversion of stored value in their vehicle into short-term earnings. Then when the first bill comes for brake pads, tires, shocks, CV joints and tie rod ends they pack it in. This is why their driver turnover rate is astronomical. The other side of the issue is the drivers who ignore such things and drive all over the place in under-maintained, under-insured cars, converting a public nuisance externality into Uber revenue and prolonged starvation wages.
- mrosett 7y agoThe claim that Uber drivers aren't actually earning money but just engaging in "conversion of stored value in their vehicle into short-term earnings" is based on a clearly flawed study [0]. Even after subtracting out vehicle wear and tear, drivers make a modest (but not great) wage. You can rail about "exploitation" and "starvation wages" but the people I know who have worked for Uber generally thought the wage was decent and the conditions were better than most alternatives. Removing the option to "be exploited" by Uber doesn't leave them working a cushy 6-figure software job; it leads to doing work they like less. [0]: https://medium.com/uber-under-the-hood/an-analysis-of-ceeprs-paper-on-the-economics-of-ride-hailing-1c8bfbf1081d https://medium.com/uber-under-the-hood/an-analysis-of-ceeprs...
- plink 7y agoDrivers who are aquainted with you may make a modest wage, and I’ll wager you know no drivers in Minneapolis nor Orlando, for their mileage rates cause their rideshare labor to be an entirely charitable endeavor.
- docker_up 7y agoNo one forces anyone to drive for Uber or Lyft. If they don't like the money they're making, they can go work at a regular job. With sub-4% unemployment there are PLENTY of jobs out there.
- stochastic_monk 7y agoFunny — unemployment only appears so low because gig workers list themselves as employed full-time. [0] [0] https://axios.com/gig-economy-employment-economic-data-effect-d8ef97ff-1774-4223-9fd8-d50510fb3c9f.html https://axios.com/gig-economy-employment-economic-data-effec...
- briandear 7y agoAre they indentured servants?
- plink 7y agoYup. In Florida, many of them are illegals, many of them are hobos with cars, and others are indentured to crime rings where one vehicle is swapped out with several drivers whose faces apparently all look alike to the rideshare company management. Here’s an example for you: today, Tuesday, MCO is closed, yet the rideshare staging lot has over 25 vehicles in it. Yesterday, Monday, FLL was closed for weather, and the rideshare staging lot had over 55 vehicles parked in it with their homeless drivers sleeping through the hurricane to get first crack at inbound flights once they resumed. Nice work if you can get it.
- bt848 7y agoThat doesn't have anything to do with what I'm talking about. I'm discussing data from TNC driver organizations like https://www.ridester.com/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make/ https://www.ridester.com/how-much-do-uber-drivers-make/