Uber launches new app to help find workers

The ride-hailing app is piloting a new service in Chicago that connects employers with temporary workers who want shift work.
By: | October 8, 2019

Uber Technologies has launched an app called Uber Works to connect temporary workers looking to work shifts with businesses trying to fill gaps in their rosters.

Currently the app is only available in Chicago, with a target market of businesses like restaurants and bars that rely heavily on shift workers. But there are hopes the technology can be extended to other markets in the future.

Uber Works help businesses that struggle to find staff during peak demand, which can be exacerbated by employees missing shifts and high turnover. The app matches them with workers who are available to work those shifts.

Along with employers, it will also partner with staffing agencies, which employ, pay and handle worker benefits.
Uber needs to diversify itself away from ride hailing given the tough competition it faces, particularly in Asia, and legal challenges over how it treats freelance workers and independent contractors.

A new Californian law designed to limit the use of ‘’gig” workers comes into effect on January 1, which could see contractors treated as employees, with all the associated benefits.