Saturday, March 03, 2018
Eek! I'll cross that off the list of things to do...
An intriguing MIT study came at my yesterday for some reason, and I can't get it out of my head. In a nutshell, it analyzes the net pay of people who drive for Uber and Lyft, and the conclusions reached are pretty disheartening:
-- Median profit for the drivers is $3.37 per hour before taxes
-- Once vehicle expenses are factored in, 30% of the drivers are actually losing money
-- Turnover in the industry is between 50% and 96% a year
As someone who uses these services and has generally been pretty happy with it, I'm disappointed-- my assumption had been that the pay must be decent if so many people are doing it.
My own hunch is that the statistics may be skewed by a large number of people who try it but then decide quickly that it is not for them. Because they are new, they probably are not skilled at maximizing profits. I note that the numbers above are for all drivers, but (like any business) those who are good at it probably do more work and for a longer time period before quitting. That means that if we adjusted the numbers towards profit per total mile driven by all miles driven (as opposed to by all drivers), it might change things for the better.
But... I'm no MIT statistician!
-- Median profit for the drivers is $3.37 per hour before taxes
-- Once vehicle expenses are factored in, 30% of the drivers are actually losing money
-- Turnover in the industry is between 50% and 96% a year
As someone who uses these services and has generally been pretty happy with it, I'm disappointed-- my assumption had been that the pay must be decent if so many people are doing it.
My own hunch is that the statistics may be skewed by a large number of people who try it but then decide quickly that it is not for them. Because they are new, they probably are not skilled at maximizing profits. I note that the numbers above are for all drivers, but (like any business) those who are good at it probably do more work and for a longer time period before quitting. That means that if we adjusted the numbers towards profit per total mile driven by all miles driven (as opposed to by all drivers), it might change things for the better.
But... I'm no MIT statistician!
Comments:
<< Home
They are like all franchisors: predatory. They are the full flower of the gig economy.
When Subway offers a four dollar 12-inch sub, it's the franchisees who have to figure out how to do that or take the loss, which is what usually happens. The franchisor gets its percentage regardless.
During Super Bowl weekend, the streets were choked with Uber and Lyft drivers, partly at the urging of Uber and Lyft, most of whom lost their shirts, but the franchisors did fine.
Uber and Lyft are the avatars of late-stage capitalism.
Post a Comment
When Subway offers a four dollar 12-inch sub, it's the franchisees who have to figure out how to do that or take the loss, which is what usually happens. The franchisor gets its percentage regardless.
During Super Bowl weekend, the streets were choked with Uber and Lyft drivers, partly at the urging of Uber and Lyft, most of whom lost their shirts, but the franchisors did fine.
Uber and Lyft are the avatars of late-stage capitalism.
<< Home
