Uber suffers from a shortage of drivers in the UK. Many have switched jobs during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The company also loses drivers to competing taxi services such as Bolt, which charges its drivers lower costs.
Now that there are hardly any restrictions in large parts of Britain, demand for taxi rides is returning. According to union App Drivers and Couriers Union, up to half of Uber drivers in the last 18 months have switched to, for example, a job as a meal or parcel delivery worker to earn money. Users of Uber taxis can see this because their waiting times are much longer. There are therefore complaints to be read on social media.
According to Uber driver Amar Ullah from Glasgow, many of the switched drivers are not planning to return. They say they spend less time making the same salary. Moreover, they do not have to deal with sometimes annoying passengers and they do not have to take out extra insurance because they carry people.
Uber is not only facing driver shortages in the UK. In the second quarter of this year, the taxi platform also spent a lot of money at home to entice drivers who had stopped in connection with corona to return. In april, the company announced that it would spend $ 250 million, or about $ 212 million, to attract American drivers. Uber wanted to do that by giving bonuses and other benefits.