They are not employees because they can stop working at any point in the day and they decide to pick up rides or decline them instead of being assigned tasks th

They are not employees because they can stop working at any point in the day and they decide to pick up rides or decline them instead of being assigned tasks they have to complete. Bad rating just means they get less priority not a bad performance review that gets them fired. They choose their tools (car), work location and take breaks whenever they want between rides. And yes, Uber and Lyft are intentionally a "growth hack" companies.