Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Adding to this, "the free market will decide" can sometimes be a cop-out, but in this case it applies perfectly.

There are reasonably low barriers to entry in this market, for the most part. If Uber treating its drivers as contractors rather than employees impacts Uber drivers in a negative enough way that they would prefer to work elsewhere, there is likely ample space for a competitor which offers a better deal for its drivers.

Drivers have little-to-no incentive to stay with Uber if they can get a better deal elsewhere (based on what I've seen, many already also work for Lyft), and users have little-to-no reason to stick with one on-demand ride app if there's another app that has more availability/drivers.

If cost-of-ride is the biggest competitive differentiator, the price of the ride will stay the same and drivers will be able to choose whether they want to work for a company which treats them as an employee but takes a bigger cut, or a company which takes a smaller cut but treats them as a contractor.



Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: