Uber Releases “Uber Works” to Match Shift-Workers with Jobs

News in Brief:

• Uber is launching its “Uber Works” app for shift-workers to find temporary jobs.
• Uber Works will first launch in Chicago before expanding to other regions soon.
• Uber will only sign up workers coming under the “W2 employee” category.

Uber has stepped into another potential domain, after making additions like e-Scooters and Dine-in features into the Uber app. It is releasing another app called “Uber Works” today in Chicago in partnership with staffing agencies as of now.

Uber Works is a match-making app for temporary workers in need of shift-work to fill in the gaps and businesses looking for real-time temporary labor. 

This business proposition has been on a trial run in Chicago for a year now and was tested in Los Angeles. According to some sources, the app may expand its horizons to other cities or globally in the coming future.

Uber in its official blog on Uber Works stated that “Uber Works is also committed to deliver services that support skill up-leveling and promote work re-entry and we are partnering with various organizations that support workers in their employment journey.”

The app platform is created keeping in mind the needs of blue-collar workers like clerks, warehouse workers, and chefs to find temporary jobs without the need of filling their information every time they sign up for a job. They will also be able to keep track of different shifts they do on a job.

As per some sources, Uber is managing all this by partnering with companies and agencies like TrueBlue – a renowned industrial staffing agency in the US.

Though the app comes under the “on-demand” gig economy model, Uber said that it would only sign up “W2 employees” or other workers who are eligible to receive some specific benefits. Moreover, the employers of these workers i.e., staffing agencies, will also have to pay the payroll taxes.

Uber in the blog also mentioned that the company has studied and created the solution to assist workers in improving their shift-work experience and “eliminate bottlenecks to finding work”.  In fact, the workers will be able to access information about their pay, skill requirements and dress-code for a particular job.

Additionally, Uber Works will also help companies eliminate “scheduling headaches, weather seasonal variations, and staff up for unexpected demand.”

This shift of Uber’s to offer services to the gig economy domain may have resulted from the bill that was passed in California last month stating that ride-hailing companies must register their drivers as contractors instead of employees.In the span of the last two years, we have seen Uber launch one app idea after another from JUMP electric scooter service to Uber Air to Uber Eats – the company has tried and excelled at everything. And from this past record, we have some high expectations from the Uber Works app.