The Faceless Boss: A Look Into The Uber Driver Workplace
You probably never want to hear you've been fired. If you've heard those words, you know they feel like a punch in the gut. Now, imagine that instead of your boss telling you face to face, you get the news from a pop-up alert on your smartphone. That's how it works at Uber.
Eric Huestis didn't realize that, until it happened to him. At first, there was nothing unusual about that day in April. He took his Chrysler 300 to a Burlington, Vt., car wash. He bought the used car specifically to drive for Uber. After the car wash, he slid into the front seat and tried to open his Uber app. Nothing. He'd been "deactivated," as Uber calls it.
Uber has created one of the fastest-growing workforces in American history. And to recruit drivers, company leaders are fond of saying you can "Be Your Own Boss." But through dozens of interviews and an informal survey, NPR found that hundreds of drivers feel the company is not living up to that promise. They say the San Francisco-based startup sets strict rules and punishments, just as other bosses do, but it's eerily distant. Even in dire situations — like when you've been axed — it's impossible to reach a human in charge. This facelessness is decidedly unlike other workplaces.
In interviews with NPR, Uber officials acknowledge that the company has to improve its communication with drivers and that in the initial years of growth, it was not a top priority. Now, they say, that's going to change.
When Huestis found himself locked out, he wasn't sure if it was just a software glitch. He recalls the app alert told him to "please contact customer support." It's counterintuitive, but again in Uber-speak, the driver is the "customer." Drivers rely on the company's service — the now iconic black app — to match them with riders.
Huestis hit the button on the Uber app, which directed him to a form (not a person). Moments after hitting submit, he got a message from a company Uber uses to do criminal background checks. Checkr, another Silicon Valley startup, told him he had a marijuana record that needed to
