Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Uber attracts record number of drivers as cost of living bites

Uber attracts record number of drivers as cost of living bites

The number of people driving for Uber has hit an all time high, as concerns about the rising cost of living push people to find new ways to make money.
Almost 5 million people are now picking up passengers or making food deliveries for the company, 31% more than last year, boss Dara Khosrowshahi said.

Uber has been struggling with a driver shortage since the pandemic, leading to longer waiting times for customers.

High petrol prices also make it harder to earn money on the platform.

But Mr Khosrowshahi said interest in driving for the company was accelerating despite those costs.

"That's right: more people are earning on Uber today than before the pandemic," he said in prepared remarks for investors to discuss the firm's financial performance.

"Against the backdrop of elevated gas prices globally, this is a resounding endorsement of the value drivers continue to see in Uber."

Uber has been criticised for the treatment of its drivers.

In the UK, the Supreme Court ruled last year that the company must count them as workers. But in many countries, including key markets such as the US, Uber classifies drivers as self-employed contractors, meaning they are not entitled to benefits such as minimum wage or holiday pay.

Uber has said drivers value the flexibility to choose their own schedules. But it has also responded to concerns, for example introducing a fuel surcharge that customers pay to help offset driver costs.

It also recently unveiled other changes, including allowing drivers to see how much they will make before agreeing to take a ride, aimed at making their platform more appealing to drivers.

"Rather than relying solely on financial incentives, our goal has been to improve drivers' overall experience," Mr Khosrowshahi said.

Higher demand, which had plunged when the pandemic hit in 2020, is also helping to attract drivers back.

Uber said there were 1.87 billion trips on the platform in the April-June period - an average of roughly 21 million per day - up 24% from last year, and 12% more than were taken in 2019 before the pandemic hit.

The rise in demand helped push gross bookings up 33% to $29.1bn (£24bn)

Revenue more than doubled to $8.1bn, though some of that was due to a change to how the company accounts for its UK business.

Despite the gains, the company lost $2.6bn. It said more than half of that was due to a decline in the value of its stakes in overseas companies such as Zomato, Grab and Aurora.

Uber shares jumped more than 13% after the better than expected results. The numbers suggest a path for Uber to become profitable, despite inflationary pressures and lingering driver shortages in some cities, said Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities. "In a nutshell, despite rising ride share prices throughout the US/Europe clearly consumers are still moving to the Uber platform especially as travel, shifting to the office, and other post pandemic trends take hold globally with Uber poised to benefit into 2023," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×