Hundreds of Uber drivers in New York met in a park on Super Bowl Sunday to protest a 15% decrease in driving rates. Uber has been hiring drivers at a rate of 30,000 per week and many drivers feel neglected, even used. The drivers argue that such steady growth would not have been possible
without them: They, after all, supply the cars that keep the network
liquid. Uber is also quick to "deactivate" drivers, for little more than a subpar driver review because of the high supply of willing drivers. This is not the first time Uber cut its prices. in 2014, Uber cut driving rates by 20% and saw an increase in commission. The new decrease along with other various neglect was the final straw that set off the rebellion. Drivers have reached the point where they are starting to struggle to making a living to support their families. Uber did not respond to the crisis well seeming to act as if it is all a joke. The drivers are continuing to do everything they can to gain respect. Lawsuits have been filed against Uber, which seek to make the drivers full
employees. If the suits are successful, they could cripple Uber’s
business model. Some drivers are even trying to create a rival app that they hope will be successful. As of now nothing has been resolved and drivers claim that they have more strikes are being planned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/nyregion/uber-drivers-up-against-the-app.html?ref=technology
This is very interesting that many people are fighting back against Uber. I honestly think that drivers fighting back will not have much of an impact on Uber's business choices. This is because it is very hard to regulate Uber and the supply of drivers is so large. Strikes wont do much because most Uber drivers are part-time and they choose to drive for some extra money instead of being full time.
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ReplyDeleteUber is such a fast growing company and very popular that I find it hard to picture another company trying to compete with them. I understand how the drivers feel about the company adding almost 30,000 new drivers per week, but they might end up losing more by creating a new app. For example, as of now, Lyft was Uber's competition but they are not doing as well as Uber. Therefore, I believe they should find another way to resolve the issue.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to see how people are responding to the decrease in driving rates. I wonder if people take into consideration how it would be working as an Uber driver verses a taxi driver. I also wonder if the majority of the people that are protesting use Uber as there full time job. I am not informed on how you apply as an Uber driver, meaning do you apply as a full or part time employee and how this would have an effect on a drivers wage.
ReplyDeleteI remember on New Years Eve, Uber increased their driving rates by nearly 9 times as much, which might have affected some of their business now. In my opinion, as a company, they are focusing too much on the short run and not enough on the impact of their decisions in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating to see how Uber is using the simple demand & supply model to their advantage. It is surprising to see uber is hiring at a rate of 30,000 per year which means theres an excess of supply of uber drivers which allows uber to keep pushing the driving rates down essentially increasing the company's profit. This although may be unethical for the drivers but uber recognizes that they dont need to satisfy the drivers because of the over supply.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating to see how Uber is using the simple demand & supply model to their advantage. It is surprising to see uber is hiring at a rate of 30,000 per year which means theres an excess of supply of uber drivers which allows uber to keep pushing the driving rates down essentially increasing the company's profit. This although may be unethical for the drivers but uber recognizes that they dont need to satisfy the drivers because of the over supply.
ReplyDeleteCrazy how many people become drivers every week, I would not have thought it would be that high of a number. With that being said, I guess they have the power of cutting prices because they have a huge pool of people who will work for them. Let's say that half of these people disagree with the cut, Uber can probably just fire them and hire people that want to work with the new rate. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
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