Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi ‘moonlighted’ as an undercover driver for several days in 2022, in order to understand the issues faced by drivers who sign up for the US-based taxi aggregator, a report in The Wall Street Journal said.
Uber began facing a shortage of drivers as people began venturing out after the Covid lockdowns were lifted across the United States in 2021.
Initially, Khosrowshahi, an Iranian-American executive who joined Uber in 2017, attempted to attract more drivers by reserving $250 million as bonuses. But the shortage persisted.
He soon realised that drivers needed something more to remain with Uber. That is when Khosrowshahi, using the alias “Dave K” and riding a second-hand Tesla car, began making several trips in and around San Francisco.
In doing so, he understood several issues faced by Uber drivers, who form a major part of the gig economy in the United States. Gig economy is a term used to denote jobs that are short-term, part-time or freelance in nature.
WHAT KHOSROWSHAHI LEARNT
Media reports suggest that the poor app design made it difficult for drivers to sign up for Uber. Khosrowshahi urged techies at Uber to create a single sign-up process that allowed drivers to toggle between food delivery and transport.
Another issue that drivers faced was the lack of information on the rider’s drop location and estimated pay before acccepting a trip. As a solution, the Uber CEO brought changes in the app to help drivers see their rider’s destination without restrictions.
Moreover, Khosrowshahi faced many rude riders during his moonlighting stint, which prompted him to improve the working conditions for Uber drivers. “I think that the industry as a whole, to some extent, has taken drivers for granted,” The Wall Street Journal quoted Khosrowshahi as saying.
While Big-Tech firms like Alphabet, Meta and Amazon have been on a job cut spree this year, Uber is an outlier. Active drivers on the platform reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter (October-December 2022) and continued to grow in January.
The US multinational also posted healthy financial balance sheet in 2022, with its revenue rising 49 percent to $8.61 billion in the fourth quarter (October-December 2022).
According to media reports, Uber will now be focusing on delivering profits in 2023, after bouncing back from the lows of the Covid-induced lockdowns.
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