5 ms·

It says "$15 (USD) an hour and up". That's better than uber or other gig work, and honestly probably pretty attractive for a lot of people. What should the wage

It says "$15 (USD) an hour and up". That's better than uber or other gig work, and honestly probably pretty attractive for a lot of people. What should the wage be? There was a story a few months ago about offshore contractors making $2/hour to do content filtering. Even that I belive was a good local wage, but in comparison, this $15 job seems pretty generous.

adventured 3y ago
Depends on the location. I'm in a college town, Uber drivers here are commonly doing better than $15 / hr. They do well enough that Uber has consumed a bunch of the labor pool for service jobs that pay around $15 (leaving retailers complaining).
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  Including the wear and tear on their car? And having proper insurance (some insurance won't cover a personal car used for work unless you have that coverage specifically added).
  - adventured 3y ago
    All the other wage comparable jobs don't include wear and tear either (whether on a vehicle or on your body / mind). What kind of price tag do we put on your soul being gutted at McDonalds or CVS, standing at a register all day dealing with entitled jerks as a CSA.
    - version_five 3y ago
      > What kind of price tag do we put on your soul being gutted at McDonalds or CVS, standing at a register all day dealing with entitled jerks as a CSA. Is this a serious question? That's what the wage is for. It's an amount that convinces people to spend their time at the job. If on top of that, they also need to depreciate a capital asset, as with uber driving, the effective net amount they earn is lower, which is what is being discussed.
  - version_five 3y ago
    I remain convinced that uber's entire business model depends on people misunderstanding how much car ownership actually costs. The economics work around some local operating point where profit is money earned minus short term costs, and almost everyone signing up is thinking in those terms, so that's how the rates get set.
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      Depends heavily on what each area let you drive. Pre-pandemic, used cars delivered excellent value. Buy $2k car, put 50 000km, scrap for $500, repeat. In that time, pray all you need are oil changes, tires, drum brake shoes or disc pads and maybe a battery.
- f311a 3y ago
  Don't forget to subtract car amortization from the $15 figure.
  - anonymouskimmer 3y ago
    People never subtract stress amortization from their jobs. And really, how many people drive their car into the ground? I used my old Saturn SL1 to deliver papers and other periodicals (on the order of 1000 stop and goes per week), and it was still working fine when I had to sell it at 150k miles for a move. The driver's seat was just torn to pieces. It's just extra oil changes, gas, tires, and maybe maintenance on things like the radiator.
    - jjeaff 3y ago
      Yes, but one of the biggest factors when selling your car is the mileage. Take what that car would have sold for if it had 75k miles on it and subtract what you actually sold it for. That difference is the additional depreciation those 75k miles created. And Uber won't let you drive junkers either. So there is always some additional value lost per mile driven that needs to be accounted for.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - Scoundreller 3y ago
        Eventually, when an unpopular vehicle is old enough, 150k miles or 225k doesn’t make a difference because most of its value is in the catalytic converter and metal shreds.
    - f311a 3y ago
      > It's just extra oil changes, gas, tires, and maybe maintenance on things like the radiator. Well, it really adds up. Compare it to a desk job where all you need is a cheap laptop.

adventured 3y ago

Depends on the location. I'm in a college town, Uber drivers here are commonly doing better than $15 / hr. They do well enough that Uber has consumed a bunch of the labor pool for service jobs that pay around $15 (leaving retailers complaining).

SoftTalker 3y ago
Including the wear and tear on their car? And having proper insurance (some insurance won't cover a personal car used for work unless you have that coverage specifically added).
- adventured 3y ago
  All the other wage comparable jobs don't include wear and tear either (whether on a vehicle or on your body / mind). What kind of price tag do we put on your soul being gutted at McDonalds or CVS, standing at a register all day dealing with entitled jerks as a CSA.
  - version_five 3y ago
    > What kind of price tag do we put on your soul being gutted at McDonalds or CVS, standing at a register all day dealing with entitled jerks as a CSA. Is this a serious question? That's what the wage is for. It's an amount that convinces people to spend their time at the job. If on top of that, they also need to depreciate a capital asset, as with uber driving, the effective net amount they earn is lower, which is what is being discussed.
- version_five 3y ago
  I remain convinced that uber's entire business model depends on people misunderstanding how much car ownership actually costs. The economics work around some local operating point where profit is money earned minus short term costs, and almost everyone signing up is thinking in those terms, so that's how the rates get set.
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    Depends heavily on what each area let you drive. Pre-pandemic, used cars delivered excellent value. Buy $2k car, put 50 000km, scrap for $500, repeat. In that time, pray all you need are oil changes, tires, drum brake shoes or disc pads and maybe a battery.
f311a 3y ago
Don't forget to subtract car amortization from the $15 figure.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  People never subtract stress amortization from their jobs. And really, how many people drive their car into the ground? I used my old Saturn SL1 to deliver papers and other periodicals (on the order of 1000 stop and goes per week), and it was still working fine when I had to sell it at 150k miles for a move. The driver's seat was just torn to pieces. It's just extra oil changes, gas, tires, and maybe maintenance on things like the radiator.
  - jjeaff 3y ago
    Yes, but one of the biggest factors when selling your car is the mileage. Take what that car would have sold for if it had 75k miles on it and subtract what you actually sold it for. That difference is the additional depreciation those 75k miles created. And Uber won't let you drive junkers either. So there is always some additional value lost per mile driven that needs to be accounted for.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      Eventually, when an unpopular vehicle is old enough, 150k miles or 225k doesn’t make a difference because most of its value is in the catalytic converter and metal shreds.
  - f311a 3y ago
    > It's just extra oil changes, gas, tires, and maybe maintenance on things like the radiator. Well, it really adds up. Compare it to a desk job where all you need is a cheap laptop.