Uber released a survey of their drivers last week. As with all things Uber, it's being widely covered. The key findings, at least from my perspective, are:
- 78% of Uber drivers are satisfied with their experience driving for Uber.
- 74% reported Uber has made their lives better by giving them more flexibility with their schedule.
- 81% of the drivers work part-time as Uber drivers
- As of December 2014, Uber had 162,037 active drivers on its platform.
Not surprisingly, the satisfaction numbers echo the what we've consistently found in the many years we've been studying independent workers (freelancers, independent consultants, etc.) - independent workers like being independent.
And as we have reported many times, most like being independent because it provides work autonomy, control and flexibility. Uber drivers agree.
There are many articles on the study, including:
The Atlantic has my favorite article, mostly because it points out how small Uber and the sharing economy are relative to the U.S. economy. Key quote:
About 160,000 drivers have fired up Uber on their phone since 2012. That's less than one month's net job creation. It's about 0.1 percent of the workforce. It is a rounding error.
Business Insider provides a pretty good summary of the key data.
Slate provides a good overview and a good look at Uber driver earnings data.
New Republic is surprisingly positive about the study, the results and independent work.
Newsweek attacked the survey methodology, which I think is unfair. All surveys have issues and problems. But overall the methods used in this survey look sound.
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