Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been under pressure amid the global pandemic to boost revenue from the ride-hailing app, which has stalled the overall economy in the U.S. but boosted the gig economy so much that Uber couldn’t keep up with user demand . Uber needed more drivers, and it needed it fast, but the company’s reluctance to classify drivers as workers and a spate of complaints related to the Uber app’s notoriously poor design — that is, for drivers — held it back.
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The tech company’s CEO concluded that the best way to solve Uber’s driver-related problems is to get behind the wheel of a car and become an Uber driver yourself, according to The Wall Street Journal in a lengthy profile of the “Undercover bosses” reported. Khosrowshahi reportedly bought a used Tesla Model Y in a very safe but very boring gray livery and drove around San Francisco (where Uber is based) for months under the alias “Dave K.”
Khosrowshahi started in September 2022 as part of an ongoing campaign called “Project Boomerang,” which aimed to make Uber better for its drivers, not passengers, thereby getting more people to drive for the service. It’s not just about a premium experience just for drivers, but for drivers as well.
But the start was far from great for Khosrowshahi, who struggled to navigate Uber’s sign-up process and later dashed his hopes of generous tips through the common practice of “top baiting.” The Uber app penalized the CEO for declining certain plans, and its clunky interface made it difficult to navigate and switch from one plan to the next.
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In other words, the app sucks for drivers. Khosrowshahi’s driving also showed him what it’s like to be at the mercy of driver reviews, according to the WSJ:
A passenger recognized the Uber CEO and asked for advice on his startup. Mr Khosrowshahi said most drivers failed to recognize him, however, giving him an overall five-star rating. He said he gets jittery the nights before the ride out of concern his rating might drop the next day.
But the WSJ says the CEO’s months of experience, culminating in just 100 trips and deliveries, has resulted in the company’s biggest transformation since 2009. The company’s full-year results also benefited, as Uber reported higher sales and profits in 2022 than in previous years.
Funny that the Uber CEO and a handful of other executives would have to get behind the wheel and experience firsthand the technical difficulties and stress faced by drivers (as well as the rudeness of Uber drivers) to do things well change.
I encourage you to read the entire WSJ profile because it’s about as close to a benign parable about the tech industry as we can probably get — especially when it comes to the CEO of a company like Uber getting at odds with its drivers has been (er, worker) for years.
The experiment is far from perfect, and hardly representative of what the average Uber driver (who isn’t in the moonlight as the CEO of a major tech company) will go through. At one point, for example, the WSJ says the CEO vowed never again to take a fare that would take him across the Bay Bridge into Oakland during rush hour. How many Uber drivers can say the same thing without incurring any financial loss?
But at least the profile shows how doing things that benefit the people who actually do most of the work can have a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. Instead of seeping down, the economy is at work here.
The changes to the app that have spawned the CEO’s Ride Days have been praised by drivers, who have long called for similar changes and more transparency into their pay. Now let’s give those slightly happier Uber drivers some substantial benefits, and not just app updates or UI patches.
Photo: Kevin Dietsch (Getty Images)