Uber Launches App Aimed at Connecting Workers With Businesses

Ride-hailing firm Uber said it launched an app called Uber Works to connect temporary workers looking to work shifts with businesses trying to plug gaps in their rosters. From a report: The app, made available only in Chicago for now, will show workers the available shifts in a certain area and help businesses that struggle to staff up during peak demand, and with missed shifts and high turnover, Uber said in a blog post. "Uber Works has a business dashboard and we connect directly with businesses, including restaurants and others, to assist them with filling empty shifts," a company spokesman told Reuters. The move to diversify its core business comes at a time when Uber's main ride hailing operations face competition in Asia, while the U.S. company is also facing regulatory scrutiny for classifying its drivers as independent contractors. Last month, a driver with Uber sued the company after California legislators voted to help thousands of those workers become employees and enjoy associated benefits. A new California law designed to limit the use of "gig" workers goes into effect on Jan. 1.

No thanks

[AmiMoJo]

This will certainly help businesses that don't want all the overheads associated with employees, fixed hours, benefits etc. The more efficiently they can get that supply of disposable workers that they only have to pay contract rates with no benefits or sick days the more money they can make.

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[stephanruby]

Sure, but Taskrabbit was already doing this. What does Uber have to offer that Taskrabbit can't?

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[gbjbaanb]

a thousand "journalists" ready to write up articles telling everyone that Uber Works exists.

I'd never heard of taskrabbit, doubt I will again.

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[AmiMoJo]

Brand recognition, greater expertise in exploitation.

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[AutodidactLabrat]

Taskrabbit, that you have to PAY FOR THE RIGHT TO BID A JOB?
Talk about dead end business model

They are acting as an employment agency

[RotateLeftByte]

Which requires that they actually do some work in many countries. Here in the UK they will need to validate the right of the applicant to seek employment. How much of a cut will they take 30% perhaps?

I would not touch anything with that 4-letter word on it so for me it is rather moot.

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[Registered Coward v2]

Which requires that they actually do some work in many countries. Here in the UK they will need to validate the right of the applicant to seek employment. How much of a cut will they take 30% perhaps?

I would not touch anything with that 4-letter word on it so for me it is rather moot.

Uber, of course will claim they aren't because, well internet, app, etc. I wonder how long it will take before Uber gets sued for employment discrimination and by an employer when an UberEmployee costs them money.

Training?

[Comboman]

Everyone with a driver's license already knows how to drive a car (at least marginally) and can follow a GPS. Few other jobs are so cut-and-dried. I doubt businesses are going to want to invest in even the minimal amount of training required to bring a new employee up to speed for a single shift if they know they may never see them again.

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[Jetboy01]

Have you ever heard of temps?

This has been happening for decades, if not a century.

he hasn't probably

[gDLL]

there are no temps in mom's bubble/basement. For agriculture work at least this could work out great.

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[Comboman]

Yes, because what agricultural workers need is dot com douchebags skimming off the top of their already inadequate pay. It's like Grapes of Wrath meets Pirates of Silicon Valley.

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[AutodidactLabrat]

And me with no upgrade points left.
Thanks!!!

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[Comboman]

Temp agencies generally pre-screen employees with skills/experience in a certain area (like secretarial/accounting/construction/etc) and offer them to companies for limited periods to cover employees on leave or to meet a peak in demand. The term is usually weeks or months and seldom only a day. The Uber system as described in the article is NOT that.

No exploitation going on here, I see...

[ErichTheRed]

We're already hearing people going around telling everyone what a great thing the gig economy is. You're never saddled to a fixed job, you can work your own hours, etc... What about those people who actually want stable, steady work that comes with a predictable cash flow every few weeks? I think that the pendulum is going to come somewhere back toward the middle during the next recession. So many people have had a good run for a long time and assume the bad times will never come...just wait, they will.

Employers likely to use this service already enjoy the "benefits" of a disposable workforce. Retail, restaurants, etc. just swap people in like parts and there's no expectation they'll work any harder than the last person before them. It's moving up the chain now too...most IT and dev jobs are contracts now from what I've seen with zero stability and no benefits. Using UberEmployer just distances these employers even more from that anonymous faceless workforce.

I love Uber

[Jarwulf]

Want to work? Push a button anytime. Work as much as you like. Want a break? Push a button anytime. Take as long or as little as you want. No timecards, no arsehole bosses. What other job available to the average schmoe can you name where you can do that? I have to laugh at the entitled brats crying over uber not paying a 'living wage'. Its for bored college students looking for some extra pocket money, not for someone wanting to start a middle class career solely depending on it. They never advertised it as anything more. If you're a struggling single mom trying to support 6 kids on Uber alone, YOURE DOING IT WRONG. If you want to force uber into being an ordinary employer, You're going get an ordinary employer with all the associated drawbacks. Which means goodbye flexibility, goodbye a large chunk of the people protesting being able to even work there, hello timecards, arsehole bosses breathing down your neck, hello limited positions, and reporting into the office every morney, hello constant fear of being fired and being laid off after bankruptcy with no where to go because your 'career' driving with uber sucked up all your time. We're destroying a new work paradigm that could help tons of people and want to turn it into another cookie cutter souless office job.

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[AutodidactLabrat]

Some reason YOU think people CAN work without being able to live?
Capitalism is founded on the lie of a Free Market while battling furiously for a monopoly.