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Uber Drivers and Other Gig Economy Workers Are Earning Half What They Did Five Years Ago (recode.net)
According to a new study by the JPMorgan Chase Instittue, drivers who transport people via apps (e.g. Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, Postmates) made 53 percent less in 2017 than they did in 2013. Recode reports: The average monthly payments to those who worked for a transportation app in a given month declined to $783 from $1,469. Meanwhile, people working for leasing apps -- Airbnb, Turo, Parklee and other apps that let you rent assets like your home, car or parking space -- saw their incomes from those platforms rise 69 percent to $1,736 on average.
This is happening as online gig work has become more popular, thanks in large part to the growth in the number of transportation jobs. The share of the working population that has participated in the online gig economy at any point in a year rose from less than 2 percent in 2013 to nearly 5 percent in 2018. There are a number of potential reasons why the average pay for gig economy drivers has gone down. It could be any or all of the below, according to JPMorgan: drivers on average are working fewer hours; demand hasn't increased to meet the increased number of drivers; trip prices have fallen; or platforms are paying drivers lower rates.
This is happening as online gig work has become more popular, thanks in large part to the growth in the number of transportation jobs. The share of the working population that has participated in the online gig economy at any point in a year rose from less than 2 percent in 2013 to nearly 5 percent in 2018. There are a number of potential reasons why the average pay for gig economy drivers has gone down. It could be any or all of the below, according to JPMorgan: drivers on average are working fewer hours; demand hasn't increased to meet the increased number of drivers; trip prices have fallen; or platforms are paying drivers lower rates.
Every government is doing their damnedest to kill "gig" jobs, what else did they expect?
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Uber keeps shoveling VC money into the furnace hoping to one day make itself profitable. In the meantime, with dwindling cash reserves, they can't afford to pay drivers as much as they used to.
It's a race to the bottom. The more "gig economy workers" there are, the lower the rates will be.
Instead of the traditional impact being company profit margins, it's peoples wages that are shrinking.
They're trying to undercut taxis and public transportation, then jack prices sky-high after they kill the competition. Hope they epically fail, crash, and burn.
Already have a full time job and just wanted to see if there were some fares to and from work. To date I haven't had one single fare.
Good thing I have a real job.
That approach is pointless to begin with so I'm not even sure why they would think they'll be able to replace taxis and occupy a Monopoly position that would allow them to increase rates. Are they blind to the fact that their very own model could be used to unseat them if they were to try to act like a city taxi service? Never mind that they're not the only game in town and users will just go to Lyft or anyone else who has cheaper prices.
Five years ago, the average Uber driver was more likely to be a professional driver. They had no presence in smaller cities, they had a lot less UberX and a lot more Uber Black. Today, in my home town, it's still just UberX - no fancy options, the best you can get is UberXL so you can have some luggage space. But we do have Uber...
As I've said elsewhere, I'm happy to burn VC money for cheap rides, but I'd use Uber or Lyft even if they weren't cheaper than official taxis. I know what I'm getting and who drives it, I never have to worry about bullshit claims that the credit card machine doesn't work, I don't have to carry cash at all. All of those are very valuable qualities. Do they screw drivers over? Probably so, but traditional cab companies are little if any better under ideal conditions.
nobody knows since the data is _only_ monthly. It's just as likely that there are so many Uber drivers now that they're crowding each other out and nobody can make a living. Well, strike that, it's more likely. That's why medallion systems were created in the first place, e.g. to make sure the streets weren't flooded with drivers every time the economy dipped.
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They're trying to undercut taxis and public transportation, then jack prices sky-high after they kill the competition.
Their competition is not taxis or public transit. Their competition is Lyft, and Lyft is not going away. When both Uber and Lyft pulled out of Austin, other "ride-share" companies were up and running in less than a week.
Uber is growing at 3 times the rate that taxis are declining, so only a third of their riders would have otherwise used a taxi.
Uber's rates are already "sky-high" compared to public transit. They win against public transit by being way faster and more convenient.
They're trying to undercut taxis and public transportation, then jack prices sky-high after they kill the competition.
Great, then they should still cost about half what taxis cost...
And with actual customer service instead of glowers. Have YOU ever tried to report a taxi driver for anything?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
from that, you have to pay:
1. fuel, tires, and other maintenance and repair items..
2. cost and depreciation of the vehicle..
3. taxes (income, social security, medicare, etc) and vehicle registration/inspection fees and taxes..
4. insurance (commercial use, passenger-for-hire. i.e. it ain't cheap).
what was that? you ran out of money at #2? not my problem. sucks to be you, i guess. get a real job maybe?
You're assuming the business model was not flawed from the outset and because of that, you're interpreting their motive to be more brilliant than it appears to be. Please review the venture capital, and stock market dumpster fire (fueled by investor hundreds of $millions) called MoviePass.
There are a lot of business people who think by sheer force of money, they can disrupt an industry and eventually own the kingdom. In the case of Uber, their investors were racing in a land rush to become such an immense 900lb gorilla that no other competitors could challenge them... they expected to own the consumers and the service providers. As you point out, the free market has stepped in and eliminated the opportunity for Uber.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Race to the bottom, no benefits, no security, how can you lose?!
Wait, you're saying that, in a capitalist society, that by definition favors capital-owners over laborers, new ways to rent-seek with your capital (like AirBnB) are paying more than new ways to sell your labor (like Uber)? No way!
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
Taxi driver has always been a shitty job. Uber managed to fool some stupid people for a while. But anyone honest person with a brain saw this coming - there was no other way for this to end.
and as far as I know they haven't. You'd also expect Uber drive's to see higher hourly pay, but it's around $9 bucks/hr. But that looks to be in line with the figures from 2016. Maybe a little less if inflation is taken into account (remember inflation is higher for low paid employees since big ticket items like new cars have less inflation than food/rent/healthcare or even used cars).
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we aren't creating much wealth for ordinary people anymore. Oh well, we can always colonize Mars to keep the economy growing since obviously there is no other way to ensure humanity's future.
They're not undercutting public transport. Are you retarded?
As to undercutting taxis, Fuck yea. Fuck the cab companies and their asshole scammer (and rapist) drivers. "No mon, my credit card reader don't work. Hold on for a minute. I'm on the phone to Haiti"
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
I make double what I was making as a salaried employee. I take uber fairly often and the drivers all have said they make more driving for Uber (duh) than they did at there last job. One even shown me spread sheets of his expenses and his strategies for being available when the fairs are higher. I don't see anyone in the gig economy complaining, so I have no idea where these articles are coming from.
Disclaimer:I'm in Ontario, Canada - minimum wage is $14/hr.
Nothing wrong with people wanting to be paid in cash rather than giving banksters "swipe fees." What's wrong with Haitians? You racist?
Public transit doesn't accommodate the lazy, you have to follow pre-determined routes you ridiculous moron Bill.
but you're doing more trips per hour that's not necessarily a good thing either. It means more wear and tear on their cars for less money.
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I've been seeing a lot of parked cars with both Lyft and Uber stickers. I worry that after they work their 10 hour shift for oee company they move on and work another 10 hour shift at the other.
“... drivers who transport people via apps (e.g. Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, Postmates) ...”
I take it Uber Eats is trying to gain a foothold in that important, but underserved, cannibal market?
#DeleteChrome
Go home, David Brock. You've had too much to drink again.
Actually MoviePass? If you look at its history it started out making a modest profit but its a classic case of because something worked LOCALLY does NOT mean it would work nationwide.
MoviePass originally started out in San Francisco where with the sky high costs of...well frankly being in San Fran at all, made a lot of movie theaters seriously hurt for butts in seats. The guys that started MP noticed this and made deals with several local theaters to offer them deeply discounted seats because...well having SOME money is better than NO money and it costs the theater the same to show the movie to 10 people or 100 and the duo had a reasonable price for the service, closer to what Amazon Prime costs. These two factors made them a modest if not "VC worthy" profit.
But then came a new CEO who thought he could "pull an Amazon" and went nationwide with NO deals with the theaters AND at a price so low that even if they had the same deal the original duo had (who IIRC wisely cashed out when they heard the "new business plan") would never make a red cent and...yeah surprise surprise dumb business plan? Is dumb.
The sad part is if they kept the original model and simply expanded to other cities with high costs of living and a glut of movie theaters? They could have had a modestly successful little franchise, but that model simply wouldn't work in places where theaters have no issue getting customers.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
The competition in online gigs like fiverr is so great that price cutting has become the new norm
Their other competition is DUI lawyers and airport parking lots. I know a lot of people who use Uber for nights out because they want to drink a little but refuse to drive drunk. And even my 70 year-old mom has used Uber for a lift home from the airport when I was unable to pick her up. She's definitely no luddite or technophobe though she is a bit of a Nervous Nellie, and even she said it was fine and complimented "Big Al" for helping her with her suitcase.
I don't use Uber or Lyft a lot because I can easily drive most places I go, but I find them to be very convenient when travelling, in urban areas particularly. Being able to call for a cheap ride in a few minutes on a whim whether you're in Denver, Nashville, or Boston, and only needing to know one app rather than multiple companies and phone numbers, is incredibly convenient. The simplicity adds to the obvious convenience.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Yet another case of venture capital ruining everything it touches.
Next article he lies about sparrows, this time it's pretending the numbers are wrong, FUCK YOU LYING FAGGOT BILL
Yeah googling a phone number is impossible to call a cab company and have a cab come get you instantly. I guess you can get raped instead and save a buck?
I recently took some trips on a ride share app.
1 hour (15 miles) for $20
Half an hour (5 miles) for $5
I have no idea how the drivers make any money.
That's the deal.
This has impact on the social fabric. I'm noticing this myself, because as a web developer doing agency stuff you basically are smack-center in the gig economy. Sort of decently paid, yes, but gig economy none-the-less. The Germans have a better term for this "the precariously employed" to describe those working in the gig economy.
The thing is, I think this is also a natural consequence of us all moving into a post-scarcity economy, so by and large this is a good thing happening. But until a society doing something resebling UBI is in place it sucks, because the ones doing the gigs are the onces left without a chair when the music stops.
My 2 eurocents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Ubers, move to Socialist Heaven Venezuela
It's a low skill, low barrier-to-entry job. If you can drive a car and use a GPS app, you can be an Uber/Lyft driver. These jobs (whatever they are, be it fast food employee, Wal-Mart greeter, etc.) don't pay a lot. If that's the only type of job you can do, that sucks. If you can do something that maybe is a little more challenging or specialized, you'll make more money. I'm getting a little worn out seeing these 'my bullshit easy job doesn't pay enough' news stories personally.
Uber clearly did not improve the cab industry as far as drivers go. I think its even debatable how much it benefitted riders although one could argue costs went down. But like cheap air fare so does quality at times. Uber was a great money maker for the executives but hardly one for those in the trenches.
America is so far down the toilet, you don't even know which way is up any more. You aren't aware that the unemployment numbers are being played, job prospects suck out there are and getting worse. Good luck explaining how Uber is going to make your society better and enjoy your cheap rides to serfdom.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
The sad part is if they kept the original model and simply expanded to other cities with high costs of living and a glut of movie theaters? They could have had a modestly successful little franchise, but that model simply wouldn't work in places where theaters have no issue getting customers.
I think it could work almost anyplace where you have deals with the theatre. People who are going to the movies for free are much more likely to buy the high priced snacks. Moviepass seems like a workable solution if they can get the theatres to give them free/discounted tickets and/or a cut of the snack revenue. The biggest problem I see is that it is way too easy for the local theatre to roll their own plan and cut moviepass out. For that reason, the most sustainable business model for Moviepass is likely the franchise model where they provide the technology needed for movie theatres to offer subscription services to their customers.
There are a lot of business people who think by sheer force of money, they can disrupt an industry and eventually own the kingdom.
Stupid as that sounds, it can still make a lot of money for the VC's. As long as they sell their stake (or enough of it to pocket a big profit) before the whole house of cards tumbles down, the worthless kingdom they end up owning ended up costing them nothing (or even netting them a big windfall). The problem is that the media and, in turn, the public buy into the hype on the way up, facilitating this whole 'succeed by failing' sham.
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If I had to guess based on my own experience in San Diego, I'd say there are too many drivers competing for the same customers. Every other car har an Uber logo on it.
Everything that I've heard is that Uber losing $1.50 for every $2.50 that they earn. Supposedly, someone correct me if I'm wrong, Uber is going to run out of money by the end of the year if they don't get another infusion of investor cash. Self-driving cars are still probably 10 years away, sounds to me like Uber is going to be long gone by then
but then the big theaters started there own plans that really hurt them.
They don't owe drivers anything. Uber's reason to exist is to make money. If drivers don't like what they pay, they can get a job somewhere else.
These ultra-low end contract engagements should only be taken as a last resort. They tend to be bad economic choices for the worker in the same way that "rent-to-own" is a bad way to furnish your home.
No because then you get what we have now with every media bunch starting their own streaming service, more and more money spent chasing fewer and fewer customers as people get tired of the restrictions and just tune out. this might work in smaller markets where there is only one movie house but in larger cities where you can have several companies owning theaters? Its just gonna piss people off
That is why the MP model worked so well in San Fran, they went out and made deals with pretty much all the theaters and then the customer didn't have to give a shit if the movie they wanted to see was playing at theater X or only at theater Y, they just went to the most convenient location that was showing what they wanted and that was that.
This is why I think most of the ones being put out by the Movie chains themselves will end up being quietly dropped in a few years and why most streaming services will end up going tits up, its really REALLY easy to run off the customers simply with slight increases in aggravation. They find the show they want to watch isn't being shown by the chain anywhere close to them a couple times? They are gonna say "why am I wasting money on this if I can't see what I want?" and they are gonna cancel, same as I figure Netflix and Amazon will end up ruling streaming with original shows while everybody else ends up fucked. It really doesn't take much to piss customers off when the entire purpose of your service is to make things more convenient and you have to remember the kind of folks that buy into such services are a little more "into" movies and shows that Joe Average who just watches the latest tentpoles so they are a lot easier to tick off.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
You are a retard lol.
That is why the MP model worked so well in San Fran, they went out and made deals with pretty much all the theaters and then the customer didn't have to give a shit if the movie they wanted to see was playing at theater X or only at theater Y, they just went to the most convenient location that was showing what they wanted and that was that.
Don't most people always go to the closest theatre? There are only 2 theatres in my town and they are about 15 minutes apart. They are competitors but they always show pretty much the exact same movies at the exact same time. A moviepass at either one would be fine. It would make zero difference to me if it was one or the other. The driving distance and amenities are similar enough that something like a moviepass at one and not the other could easily draw in customers slightly further away.
At least I can pay good, old-fashioned, cash for a taxi and not have my CC info, email, name, and other ID info in a database for eternity.
From Uber's FAQ:
Apple Pay can be added to your Uber account as a payment method. With an Apple Pay account, you can also request and pay for trips without having an Uber account. Apple Pay is a subscription-based service currently only available in the United States. ... Select PAYMENT in your app menu and tap Apple Pay.
Apple Pay is like a one time CC, they don't have any of my CC info.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
it costs the theater the same to show the movie to 10 people or 100
If this were the case, StubHub would be all over movie theater ticket sales. Empty seats? Discount the tickets until they're all full. Theaters would be tickled at more patrons buying concessions.
This is the big confusion suffered by anyone who invested in MoviePass (post-expansion). There are no margins available on the tickets. Theaters split the ticket sales revenue with the studios, full-stop. The premise that movie theaters can afford to cut MoviePass a discount on tickets in order to get more butts in seats is pure fantasy. Go google "Movie ticket profit margins" and you'll find internet content like this:
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But that was true of Amazon for years - maybe decades. Who says investors won't put more cash in. Especially if they've already pulled out their initial cash investments by selling their inflated shares.
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Fair enough. I suppose savvy investors know when to get out and when to keep investing. If it turns out to be a case of another startup gone south or a wise business decision, time will tell, I suppose. (munches popcorn)