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I don't think we can be certain that displaced drivers won't find other opportunities. I imagine most of the appeal is the low friction to entering rideshare dr
by JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
I don't think we can be certain that displaced drivers won't find other opportunities. I imagine most of the appeal is the low friction to entering rideshare driving vs. traditional employment (fast food chains, etc). The talking point that people are somehow skilled enough for rideshare driving, yet not other low-skill work, seems to me like a talking point to have discouraged AB5 from happening. I question the factuality of the statement.
- stickfigure 7y agoThis seems like a weird statement. The people driving for Uber presumably looked at their options and decided to drive instead of apply to fast food chains. If they wanted to work in fast food, they could have? Maybe I misunderstand, but what you're saying sounds vaguely like "I know what's better for you".
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y agoWhat I am saying is, misplaced workers (if Uber does indeed become subject to AB5 and they must be employees) is these folks will find other work. The related point is these people are fully capable of that work. Finding new work can be painful, but the damages are over-stated because there's low friction to entering work that doesn't demand specialized skills. Do you have two hands and can walk? Great, you can work the french fry fryer at McD's.
- cactus2093 7y agoBut how is it better for the world if all of these Uber drivers, who clearly prefer driving for Uber to McD's, are forced to work at McD's instead?
- azylman 7y agoYou're assuming there's unlimited demand for employees by McD's... which, in point of fact, is absolutely not the case.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y agoIt was a single example of a low-skilled job. The generalized point is that you can go to any employer looking for low-skilled labor. There's high transferability between these sort of jobs.
- azylman 7y agoMy point was that there's not an unlimited supply of low-skilled jobs. The fact that if you're qualified for one, you're qualified for another isn't really relevant when they can be very hard to find in some areas.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y agoThere's been a bifurcation in employment: high-skilled and low-skilled employees are most in demand. The service industry is hurting for people. Hotels, restaurants, fast food places, etc. In fact, the NYTimes recent wrote about the hotel industry: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/travel/hotel-jobs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/travel/hotel-jobs.html
- azylman 7y agoThis is an interesting read about the hotel industry. I don't think it disproves the idea though that there are people who want to low-skilled jobs who can't find them. For instance, from that article: "The popular Mackinac Island in northern Michigan has only 500 year-round residents but approximately 3,000 jobs in the summer months. Delays on the approval for seasonal worker visas this year forced one resort to temporarily close its restaurant." When it's their "season", they're probably hurting for staff, but when it's not, all those thousands of people are out of work and need to try to find a new job...
- stickfigure 7y agoDoesn't the worker get some say in this? I, for one, would much rather drive for Uber than run a fryer. To the point of willing to take a significant pay cut to avoid the fast food industry.
- chillacy 7y agoI have fully employed friends who have driven uber during moments when they needed more cash, who would not have gone through hoops to work a second formal job.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y agoBut if they really needed the money, they would've gone through the hoops. Making rent and have food to eat tends to motivate people.