Uber rollout bolsters Far North jobs
MORE than 60 per cent of Cairns’ Uber drivers were unemployed for more than 12 months before accepting a job with the rideshare provider.
Uber, which employs people to provide a service similar to a taxi using their own cars, started in Cairns in March.
Statistics from the company showed almost a third of the 70 drivers surveyed were unemployed before it opened in the Far North.
Uber employs almost 140 people in the Far North while Cairns Taxis has 137 cabs on the road and employs 600 drivers.
Economist Bill Cummings said in March 6200 Far North residents were on unemployment benefits. He said any chance for job creation was heartening in the city.
“It would be good to see that figure go down – it’s a lot of people,” he said.
“It was a little bit up on last March’s figures,.
“The net impact of employment by Uber would have to take into account the effect on taxi licences, however.”
Former natural resources management chief executive Grant Fawcett, 59, signed up as an Uber driver after struggling to find a new role.
He had been unemployed for 18 months until March.
“In Cairns there is a limit on the number of jobs that are suitable,” he said.
“At one point I was applying for retail and tourism jobs but they said I was too qualified and you can’t hide your age. It’s not really about the income though, it’s about getting back into society and contributing.
“A lot of unemployed people end up sitting at poker machines and don’t get that social release but with Uber I get to talk to people.”
Mr Fawcett said from talking to passengers, Uber had provided a cheap mode of transport for many who may otherwise be stuck at home.
“They’re coming from outer suburbs and spending money whereas they wouldn’t have before,” he said. “It would be having a great multiplier effect on the economy.”
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