,
13 tweets,
6 min read
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1/ This is ridiculous. It is not just an issue of "paying workers enough." It is an issue of whether Uber's model of how it interacts with its employees will continue to be viable. The key issue is worker productivity. Let me explain. @engadget @GeorginaTorbet
2/ Let's define worker productivity as far as @Uber is concerned as the amount of customer revenue a driver brings in per paid hour. In the current model, they have no concern about this as they are only paying $Uber drivers when they are actually driving customers
3/ Essentially, @Uber drivers and $Uber have a revenue share agreement to split customer revenue. Uber has set the share low enough to maximize its revenue (of course) but high enough to still attract drivers. It tweaks this formula fairly frequently
4/ But note what @Uber does NOT have to worry about. It does not have to worry that drivers are working hard enough or are positioning themselves in productive locations and productive times of day.
5/ An @Uber driver currently can turn on the app at 4am in the suburbs of Peoria and $Uber does not care, even if this positioning is unlikely to get many rides. Why? Because Uber only pays if there is a ride.
6/ So today, it is left up to the driver to make trade-offs between the most productive time & positioning and the demands of their own personal schedule & life choices. This sort of flexibility has real value to many drivers. It is agency that many hourly workers don't have.
7/ My neighbor sits in his living room all day with the app on -- he gets few rides in our area but he is happy with the lifestyle and the little bit of extra money he makes from $uber. BUT ALL THIS CHANGES IF @UBER HAS TO PAY BY THE HOUR
8/ If @Uber pays by the hour, my neighbor's preferred way to drive is a dead loser for the company. In fact, if I am a driver and paid by the hour, I would go find a library in an out of the way place at an odd time of day and sit and read and collect hourly paychecks --
9/ All without having to drive much. Now, instead of productivity choices being in the driver's hands because it's the driver that makes more or less money with greater or lesser productivity, these choices now land in $Uber's lap. @uber can no longer allow so much driver agency
10/ If making @Uber drivers hourly does not kill $Uber altogether, then Uber is going to be forced to monitor driver productivity and do one or both of two things:
11/ a. Establish productivity rules, such as driving time windows and allowed geographic ranges and/or
b. set a minimum productivity threshold below which @uber will have to let those drivers go
b. set a minimum productivity threshold below which @uber will have to let those drivers go
12/ Interestingly, like a lot of labor regulation, this one will
benefit the middle while hurting the lower-paid drivers.
a. Top drivers will be unaffected, because they already make the minimum
b. middle drivers may get a small boost
c. Lower-earning drivers will be cut
benefit the middle while hurting the lower-paid drivers.
a. Top drivers will be unaffected, because they already make the minimum
b. middle drivers may get a small boost
c. Lower-earning drivers will be cut
13/ so a better way to characterize this law is that it will greatly reduce the flexibility many @uber drivers love, while causing the lowest paid drivers not to make more, but to lose their driving gig altogether @engadget @GeorginaTorbet @LorenaSGonzalez
