This sounds terrible and I would hate to be a Uber driver who has to digest this news over the coming days and weeks.
Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
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Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#12How does dropping rates make any sense when gas prices are on the rise?
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#13If I were Uber, or any ridesharing service, I'd be optimizing to pay driver's as much as possible. But that's just me.
Perhaps a collective makes more sense here.
Someone should explore doing it.
I like the services, and many drivers like the work, but almost all of them hate the pay and overall relationship.
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#14These people are complaining that they’re not being paid enough. Isn’t the proper solution to find another job? If more people stopped driving for ridesharing companies the prices would rise to attract them back. I don’t see why they are complaining when unemployment is at an all time low and they can find a job easily elsewhere. It sounds stupid.
A lot of people turn to jobs like Uber because they can't easily find a job. There are many people who desperately try for weeks or months to find employment. Companies like Uber love to prey on such people.
I don't really understand this argument. Uber didn't create the conditions causing these people not to be able to find better jobs. If Uber stopped "preying on" these people, would they be better off? It seems like they'd just be unemployed.
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#15These people are complaining that they’re not being paid enough. Isn’t the proper solution to find another job? If more people stopped driving for ridesharing companies the prices would rise to attract them back. I don’t see why they are complaining when unemployment is at an all time low and they can find a job easily elsewhere. It sounds stupid.
> Isn’t the proper solution to find another job? If more people stopped driving for ridesharing companies the prices would rise to attract them back. Instead of assuming stupidity on one party's end, why not consider that there is a rational explanation for people's behavior? A very rational explanation is that for many people, driving for Uber beats not being able to pay bills, going hungry or being homeless.
I think that's the point of the argument you're replying to. Assuming Uber drivers are rational, it means they're better off driving with Uber than they would be otherwise. In which case, why does Uber attract so much criticism? I'd understand if you criticized the general economic/social system that causes shitty jobs to be people's best option, but why criticize specific actors within it that (1) didn't create it, and (2) aren't making anyone worse off?
People are totally free to live in a world without Uber, by refusing to work for them or use their app. If that would cause them to be homeless or destitute, then what exactly is the issue with Uber -- that it's not bringing as many people as far out of destitution as you might like?
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#16If I were Uber, or any ridesharing service, I'd be optimizing to pay driver's as much as possible. But that's just me.
I agree. For Uber both riders and drivers are their customers. So keeping drivers happy and paying them well would pay off long term.
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of people turn to jobs like Uber because they can't easily find a job. There are many people who desperately try for weeks or months to find employment. Companies like Uber love to prey on such people.
I don't really understand this argument. Uber didn't create the conditions causing these people not to be able to find better jobs. If Uber stopped "preying on" these people, would they be better off? It seems like they'd just be unemployed.
A slave owner gives an otherwise hungry man food and housing. That doesn't mean slavery is at all justifiable.
Uber pays people who otherwise might not have a job at all. That doesn't mean paying them incredibly low wages is something that should be free of criticism.
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't really understand this argument. Uber didn't create the conditions causing these people not to be able to find better jobs. If Uber stopped "preying on" these people, would they be better off? It seems like they'd just be unemployed.
A slave owner gives an otherwise hungry man food and housing. That doesn't mean slavery is at all justifiable. Uber pays people who otherwise might not have a job at all. That doesn't mean paying them incredibly low wages is something that should be free of criticism.
Completely different situation. Slaves were not better off under slavery than they were at home in West Africa, nor were they free to go back if they didn't like the deal.
If Uber were kidnapping people and forcing them to become drivers at gunpoint, you might have a point.
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#19If I were Uber, or any ridesharing service, I'd be optimizing to pay driver's as much as possible. But that's just me.
I agree. For Uber both riders and drivers are their customers. So keeping drivers happy and paying them well would pay off long term.
It’s a strange market dynamic though — if Uber pays drivers more per mile, you’d have more people that will want to drive for Uber. This would mean fewer rides (per driver), which would cause the average take-home pay for a driver to be lower.
Which would cause drivers to leave, but everything would eventually equilibrate.
But if you also lower the per-mile rate (and total take home pay), then drivers won’t have much left over to “invest” in their independent businesses (their cars). So, the fleet will start to skew to older cars, which might start to drive away riders.
So, if you wanted to keep a steady supply of drivers, a player like Uber should want to maximize the total take-home pay for a driver, but not necessarily the per-mile rate (eventhough the two are obviously confounded).
But by and large, I completely agree with you. I can’t understand the logic behind lowering the per-mile rate for drivers. Given their inherent competition with Lyft for both drivers and riders, they should be working to keep both groups as happy as possible. Maybe they aren’t doing well and are trying to get their books in order before their IPO?
Re: Uber is dropping rates for drivers down from 80 cents/mile to 60 cents/mile
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of people turn to jobs like Uber because they can't easily find a job. There are many people who desperately try for weeks or months to find employment. Companies like Uber love to prey on such people.
I don't really understand this argument. Uber didn't create the conditions causing these people not to be able to find better jobs. If Uber stopped "preying on" these people, would they be better off? It seems like they'd just be unemployed.
The main problem is that when the drivers accept work from Uber, they plan ahead to have the same pay years later, often buying car from mortgage. At that point the drivers have no choice but to work their ass off to be able to pay back the mortgage for lower and lower hourly net rates.