What It's Like to Be An Uber Driver: 80 Hour Work Weeks and Tons of Waiting

Michelle Rodino-Colocino

Economics, Americas

"For the past two years, I’ve spoken with dozens of full-time Uber and Lyft drivers in Seattle to get an on-the-ground understanding of how the technologies supporting the platform-based gig economy are affecting workers."

Uber’s upcoming initial public offering may be one of the biggest in history, with the ride-hailing company expected to raise up to US$9 billion.

That’s good news for its early investors and executives, who could reap $1.3 billion from the IPO.

For the potentially hundreds of thousands of drivers who do it as their largest or main source of income? Not so much. That may be why some of them plan to go on strike in seven U.S. cities for 12 hours on May 8.

For the past two years, I’ve spoken with dozens of full-time Uber and Lyft drivers in Seattle to get an on-the-ground understanding of how the technologies supporting the platform-based gig economy are affecting workers.

Their stories help illustrate why so many of them find it difficult to earn a living wage as an app-based driver.

Just ‘chilling’

To see why, it helps to understand how Uber operates – and why investors value it so highly.