UPDATED 20:48 EST / OCTOBER 18 2018

EMERGING TECH

Report: Uber working on an on-demand labor hire service

Uber Technologies Inc.’s never-ending quest to make money has taken a new twist with a report that the ride-hailing giant is testing an “on-demand” labor hire service.

The Financial Times claimed that the service, called Uber Work, would connect job seekers to short-term roles such as “waiters and security guards.”

Uber Work is said to have been under development in Uber’s Chicago office for several months and trials of the service have already been undertaken in Los Angeles. That indicates that it may not be far away from being rolled out to some cities, at least on a trial basis.

As a tangent to its existing business units, the idea arguably works. Uber already has a pool of drivers and riders both across its core Uber transport business and Uber Eats and hence expanding opportunities for those people to obtain work shouldn’t be difficult.

That said, CNBC claimed that it’s primarily being aimed at people who aren’t currently drivers with Uber and that it could bolster the company’s business proposition ahead of a high-priced public offering. Uber’s public offering is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2019.

While Uber is looking toward new markets, it’s also improving its existing business units with changes made to the Uber app. It’s now better integrated with JUMP, the bike sharing business it acquired for an estimated $200 million in April.

TechCrunch reported that the Uber app is being changed to make “contextual, personalized suggestions about the best way to get from point A to point B.”

Those changes include the ability to recommend JUMP bikes should one be nearby, and the app can calculate whether it’s the quickest way to complete a trip. In other circumstances, it will also consider previous user behavior and particular demands such as a large amount of luggage to pick the best mode of transport for the user as opposed to simply listing what’s available.

Photo: Dllu/Wikimedia Commons

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