Re: Judge by what people do, not what they say they want.
“They may make a mistake and try out a gig for a week, but as soon as they identify it as a losing proposition, they'll stop”
The difficulty is it’s not necessarily obvious you’re losing money. I’ve got a car already. I’ll need to buy extra fuel. That’s about as far as most people driving for Uber etc tend to get.
They don’t consider the additional depreciation over and above their normal family use of the car. They’ve got extra mileage, tyre and engine wear etc. The resale value is therefore lower, and their MOT and service is going to cost more overall.
They also (hopefully) paid for additional insurance.
If they do quit after a week they’ve got the Job Centre asking why they quit their job. Your choice to quit means no JSA. Good luck living on thin air. This kind of business traps some of the most vulnerable in what is pretty close to modern slavery. The only way to make money is to cut corners, which is bad for everyone.
Taxi drivers are hardly rolling in cash to begin with. Throw in someone like Uber spending VC money to kill off the competition and their quality of life isn’t about to improve. The whole “flexible working” argument is a fig. It’s not about flexibility. It’s about avoiding responsibility. The last thing Uber etc want is actual employees on the books. Employees means rights. Can’t be having that.