I’m currently one of those salaried types, but I worked freelance for years. I’m of two minds, but both of them say that whomever is making the most profit has the most responsibility to the ones doing the work. Your thoughts?
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I think Uber is a dead company walking – they just don’t know it yet (or they do and aren’t publiciding it). I wouldn’t buy stocks in them or AirBnB.
Then again, I’m hardly a financial advisor. I just really hate how retrograde they are. NOT disruptive. Retrograde.
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THIS!
OMG this drives me nuts! We’ve replaced a working class job that could support a family and pay a mortgage with Uber! And AirBnB is just cheap hotels! We already had those things! This is just those sectors only cheaper, unregulated, unsafe, illegal, and uninsured! Its nuts! Its like the wild west all over again and everyone is just drinking snake oil wily nilly! I’m so confused!!
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This!
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I’m mixed about the Gig Economy. I think that connecting people to work and letting them set their own rates is empowering and gives many a unique opportunity for self-employment, which for some is the only kind of employment they might be able to be employed at all.
That said, I think that some companies (like Uber, Seamless and others ) are userous and take far too much for themselves. I think that those fees though leave a big door for potential competitors to come in and take away some of that business. And I think one of the more interesting opportunities for that is municipal backed alternatives that are almost like utility companies. I’d like to see more of that kind of thing happening.
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Same here. I do Lyft and will be doing Postmates and I can see how there is no way in hell anyone can live off of it. They can push the whole “you only work when you want” shit, but to actually be able to live in the US? You would be working 12 hour days 7 days a week just to get the money for rent, food, gas, insurance, etc…
Just the rich trying to take us back to slave days.
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I’ve had that conversation with Uber drivers, about how you can’t make a living on it.
And without fail, they’re all really bad at math, and have no idea how much you need to make to “live” in this city.
"They can make 25-30k a year!"
Uh… the poverty line here is $19,930 and a full time minimum wage job nets you around $23k (and thats ONLY 40 hours a week, not the 60 the uber drivers would have to work)
Honestly its like a pyramid scheme, and people falling for it are bad at math.
ALSO I met a driver doing uber that got RECRUITED by a car rental company. He rents their cars for $100 a day and drives uber for the day… and seemed confused when I pointed out that he’s not making any money after he told me he “earns” $100 a day. (also how is that not a taxi?)
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I won’t use Uber anymore due to their corporate culture. (Rarely used them before)
The last Lyft I used was just bad.
I haven’t used AirBnB but I have friends who like it when visiting their family in South Suburbs where there are no hotels. I guess that’s the one thing I see about AirBnB
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My brother signed up for Uber before some big event when the rates were going to be jacked up to the sky.
In the olden days anyone could have rented a house or hired out for a ride, but the problem was there wasn’t a site or app that focused on it and made it easy for someone to do.
In general with easy side gigs, whether it’s MLMs or Uber, people do not value their own time when they look at this stuff.
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Yep. I have a full time job and the ride sharing thing is just to bring in extra money so I’m lucky in that regard. But the whole thing about “You can make a living doing Uber!” is just straight crap. You would almost be better off selling drugs.
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Yep
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You’d literally be better off working PT at Starbucks! You’d earn more, you’d get health care benefits AND free coffee!
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I’ve run a race several times now with friends. They get an Uber. I get a cab.
I get there first every damn time. 4 different cities now.
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Try the Bay Area and let me know how that works out for you. 
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South San Fran was one of them.
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i’ve used Uber and Lyft both, and i have never had a bad experience with either service. I usually ask the drivers how they like it, and i’ve never had anything but positive responses. I know the company policies of Uber are terrible, but for the drivers on the front lines, they seem ok – not getting rich, mind you, but they like the idea, the flexibility it affords them, and the extra cash.
I have never stayed at an Air BnB, but i have a friend in St. Louis who regularly rents out her apartment when she’s going to be gone for a few days or whatever, and her experiences make it sound great. she usually is able to fund later trips using Air BnB rentals.
so i don’t know – i am certain the gig economy is taking advantage of some people, but i just haven’t seen a whole lot of first-hand evidence of it.
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I agree completely. The idea of trying to hail a cab in the middle of nowhere, or knowing which cab company to call that’s going to be able to be quickest to pick you up is a frustration I don’t miss at all. Uber/Lyft/etc solve a real problem.
And as for AirBnB, I’m a huge fan. It’s especially useful travelling as a family. Hotels charge an arm and a leg for a suite or connected double room, but for the same price or cheaper than one room I can easily rent a two bedroom apartment. And being able to cook breakfast or dinner while travelling saves a ton of money too.
One thing I don’t like though, almost as much as I dislike Uber, is renting from people who are doing it on the sly. Usually these are apartment dwellers who are going against the building’s management decision not to allow hotelling in their building. I rented a place in LA recently and it was totally under the table; I had to pick up the key from a lockbox attached to a bike chain around the corner from the building, had to be ready to lie to the doorman if he asked who I was and who I was staying with, etc. Made the whole stay feel…seedy.
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out of curiosity, where would you seek / have you sought such evidence? I honestly don’t know.
for the car service aspects - I happen to prefer a medallion cab with its municipal oversight. Not because I like the medallion system as it works today, but because I think it can be reformed without losing its consumer protections.
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as i said, i ask every driver i’ve ever ridden with what they think of the company, and their experience as drivers, and i have a friend who regularly rents out her home for Air BnB. it’s limited, i know, but that’s what i’ve got. /shrug.
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