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Posted: 31 Aug 2016 11:12 AM PDT
Uber, the ride-hailing juggernaut valued at some $68 billion, has made headlines lately by promoting pilot plans for driverless vehicles. But at the moment, the San Francisco, Calif. startup is intensely focused on shoring up its relationship with its human drivers. Since it was founded seven years ago, Uber has taken enough investment capital to turn it into the world’s most valuable startup. Its global reach, market share, number of customers, and revenues have surged. And yet the company, to some extent, is still searching for a business model. Uber is a private company and doesn’t disclose the details of its finances. But earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that the firm has lost at least $1.27 billion in the first half of 2016. Losses over the course of the firm’s existence, the report claimed, total at least $4 billion—an unprecedented figure even compared to Amazon, whose founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is famous for being willing to lose massive sums to gain market share, as well as infamous dot-com busts like Kozmo.com, Pets.com and Webvan. If the reports are accurate, much of those losses are due to subsidies Uber provides its drivers. Indeed, Uber’s relationship to its drivers is at the center of its competition with rivals, including ride-hailing startup Lyft as well as old-line taxi and limo services — they all need drivers, after all. The firm also spends a lot to attract passengers with discounts and other perks, gaining market share and thereby making the service more attractive to prospective drivers. Uber has been working overtime recently to woo new drivers and satisfy existing ones. For example, on August 31, Uber announced a new arrangement with Stride Health, primarily a healthcare broker for workers in the so-called “gig economy” who lack many of the benefits of traditional full-time employment. Stride has been offering Uber drivers access to private health plans for two years. Now the company has released a new app free to Uber drivers intended to help them log their mileage and other expenses for the purpose of increasing their tax deductions. (Drivers could, for instance, deduct the depreciation of their vehicles if they own them.) “Drivers start their day by tapping ‘go,’ and we’re tracking their mileage throughout the day,” says Stride Health CEO Noah Lang. “We also plug directly into their bank account, so we’re tracking other expenses and your income so you can understand where you’re missing opportunities and how to maximize your take-home income.” In an email, Uber Director of Business Development Jeff Miller said the app would make driving for the company “more rewarding and stress-free.” The deal came on the heels of a similar arrangement with Betterment, an algorithmic retirement planning platform. Uber drivers who open a retirement account with Betterment have their fees waved for the first year, after which they’ll be charged at a rate of 0.25%. And earlier this year, Uber struck a deal with a major labor union allowing New York drivers to bring complaints to the company on a regular basis. That arrangement, however, stopped short of creating a formal driver’s union with the power to bargain over fares, which are set by the company. (The New York guild mirrors similar groups in California and Massachusetts that were to be set up under a settlement recently rejected by a federal judge.) Uber has billed the moves as attempts to better the lives of its drivers. The company has been criticized for not offering full-time employment to workers. Being a driver can be difficult, with take-home pay fluctuating depending on changes in fare rates, gas prices and miles driven. Several Uber drivers told TIME they’re more interested in partnerships or features that put more money immediately in their pocket, like the addition of an in-app tipping feature. Tax deductions, however, are more of a delayed reward. “Some of the partnerships are definitely more helpful than others,” says Harry Campbell, who runs The Rideshare Guy, a popular blog for drivers. “Generally, it’s a trend we’re seeing, but as a driver myself and somebody who listens to a lot of drivers, a lot of these partnerships don’t always affect their bottom line. I think that’s the biggest thing—if partnerships are affecting their bottom line, then they’re something that would be welcome.” Campbell also highlights new features in Uber’s app for drivers, including one dubbed Instant Pay that allows workers to collect money they’ve earned right away rather waiting for a weekly bank deposit. Taken together, Uber’s efforts start to look like a patchwork version of the benefits enjoyed by workers in the “regular” economy, who often have an easier time filing taxes, participating in employer-based retirement plans and, in many cases, the right to unionize. Yet Uber and other gig economy companies argue their workers are not employees but independent contractors. Uber has said it is merely providing a technology platform connecting drivers with paying passengers. That stance has fueled Uber’s growth but also created headaches for the company. Drivers have filed lawsuits demanding to be recognized as full employees, calling the company’s model into question. Deals with companies like Stride and Betterment, as well as new features like Instant Pay, could help appease restless drivers. (Uber also maintains a delicate balance between satisfying riders and drivers by lowering fares while subsidizing drivers to make up for their losses.) Uber’s projects, meanwhile, to potentially replace some human drivers with computers—which don’t need unions, healthcare, or retirement plans—are still in the earliest stages. CEO Travis Kalanick is adamant that self-driving cars don’t represent a threat to jobs. “I can imagine 50,000 to 100,000 drivers, human drivers, alongside a million-car network,” he told Business Insider. “If I was working full-time, I would be scared,” says Robert Berger, a 65-year old Florida retiree who drives for Uber for extra cash. But, he adds, “I don’t think it’s going to happen quickly.” |
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Why Uber Is Trying To Make Nice With Its Drivers - TIME Business
What 80 million unexplored bombs by US do to Cambodia - CNN
years after the accident, Yei Yang refused to leave his home.
"I couldn't farm, I couldn't go to see friends, as they might be afraid of me," Yang tells CNN.
"I didn't want to live."
Yang was just 22 and burning rubbish near his village in the province of Xieng Khoung in north-eastern Laos, when a bomb blast tore off one of his eyelids, his top lip and an ear, mutilated one of his arms, and left him with severe scarring from the waist up.
"I remembered I burned the garbage, but after the explosion I was unconscious for two weeks," Yang says. "I felt extreme pain...all over my body. I still feel pain always."
His wounds were not caused by a modern day conflict, but by the remnants of a war that was waged more than 40 years ago, and is still destroying lives in this small Southeast Asian nation.
Some 80 million unexploded bombs are scattered across the country -- the deadly legacy of what became known as America's "secret war" in Laos -- a CIA-led mission during the Vietnam War.
explosive
The operation was aimed at blocking Vietnam's supply lines on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the south of Laos, and also to support the Laos government loyalists in a civil war against communist forces in the north.
In total, between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped more than two million tons of bombs -- one of the heaviest aerial bombardments in history.
Most of the munitions dropped were cluster bombs, which splinter before impact, spreading hundreds of smaller bomblets -- known locally as "bombies."
To this day, less than 1% of the bombs have been removed, according to US-based NGO Legacies of War, which is spearheading the campaign to clear them.
toys
More than 20,000 people have been killed or maimed by the unexploded ordnance (UXOs) since the war ended, and currently, 50 people are maimed or killed every year.
Around 40% of those are children.
"(The bombies) are tennis ball sized weapons," Khamvongsa says. "The children often mistake the bombs for toys, and pick them up and throw them around. This is often the cause of an explosion."
Farmers are also among the worst affected, as the poorest are forced to toil the mine-laden fields to feed their families.
"Eighty percent of people rely on their land to grow food in Laos," Khamvongsa says. "So they still use their land even at the risk of their own lives."
President Barack Obama, who arrived in Vientiane late Monday, addressed the US wartime legacy during his three-day visit to Laos, by announcing $90 million in funding for bomb clearance.
As the first US president to step foot inside the country, everything he says will be closely watched by the people of Laos.
"People are just anxious to hear what an American president has to say about it and to acknowledge what the US did here," Khamvongsa says. "This will bring greater visibility to what has happened."
farmed
It's not just the loss of life that has scarred the country.
With a quarter of villages in Laos contaminated with UXOs, it makes vast swathes of the Laos countryside unfarmable.
This contributes to widespread malnutrition and poverty, holding back economic development in a country that is already one of the poorest in Southeast Asia.
It's the young people of Laos -- 70% of the population is under 30 -- that bear the brunt of this deprivation.
Laos has the highest level of stunted growth linked to malnutrition in the region, with 40% of children affected, says Bernie Chaves, the Laos Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which runs a US-funded school meals program.
"You often see 14-year olds who look more like 10-year olds," he says.
"We are going to address directly this challenge of hunger," Kerry said.
U.S. aid to Laos has been rising steadily for years, and in 2016, Congress allocated $19.5 million for the removal of the bombs -- the highest level it has ever been.
I don't want my children to be victims
Khamvongsa says the problem will not be solved with short-term projects. What's needed, she says, "is a larger increase in funding, as well as a long-term sustained US commitment."
The hope is that the funds won't dry up after Obama leaves office.
"I personally believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to do this," Chaves says. "And increase in funding should be a priority of the next government coming in."
This sustained commitment is crucial to the country's future generations -- a huge concern for Yang, now aged 30 and a father of three young children.
He was engaged to be married and had a job as a laborer when the accident happened. Now, he's only able to do occasional work. His family depends on his wife's income and the support of a non-profit group World Education.
"I am worried that my children could become victims," he says. "(And) about how I will be able to raise my children."
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