Uber is not taking jobs away from taxi drivers according to a new study. However, it does drive down their wages.
Researchers from Oxford University have determined that the popular ride-sharing company Uber does not lower the employment rate among taxi drivers. As a matter of fact, it has increased the employment for both taxi drivers and self-employed drivers.
Uber vs Taxi Drivers
The lowdown on the results of the Oxford study is that Uber has affected the taxi drivers' earning capacity in a negative manner. Taxi drivers' earnings have suffered by as much as 10 percent since Uber came to prominence. According to the researchers stressed that the decrease in earnings of taxi drivers coincided with the increase in income of Uber drivers. In other words, while the jobs are still there, they are no longer as lucrative as before. Engadget also noted that the number of self-employed drivers went up by 50 percent which means more people got jobs because of Uber.
Uber Controversies
The ride-sharing company has long been in dispute with taxi drivers and taxi companies but it is in even deeper trouble due to the controversy stemming from its supposed support of Donald Trump's new immigration law. The #DeleteUber has trended after the company decided to continue operations while taxi drivers staged a boycott at the JFK airport. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has also received flak for being part of Trump's panel of advisers. In response, Uber has pledged a $3 million fund for its drivers who are or will be affected by the immigration ban.
Uber, which named former Google Head of Research Amit Singhal as the new Senior Vice President of Engineering, is working on a self-driving fleet which may pose an even greater threat not only to taxi drivers but also to its own crop of drivers. It already introduced the first self-driving Uber cars in Pittsburgh back in September while San Francisco followed in December before it was quickly pulled the units out.
