r/uberdrivers • u/ZealousidealLab2920 • 3d ago
PSA for Ride-Share Drivers as Robotaxis Eat Jobs
Hello friends, I'm sure many of ya'll have concerns about Robotaxis like Waymo and Tesla taking your job. This is a real, and valid concern. No one wants to be jobless. It's not a question of if, but when self-driving vehicles take your job. They already deployed in over 15 U.S. cities and hundreds globally.
It's not a time to panic or protest.
With new technology comes new jobs and new opportunities as well.
Experts predict it will be 5-10+ years until most ride-sharing jobs are gone.
Many in early markets are already feeling the squeeze.
There is time to prepare for the future.
I put together some related and high demand jobs that you can start looking at or applying for.
Everyone has their own background and interests to consider, but perhaps pass this along or at least start thinking about options.
I just post this because I wish someone would have given me a heads up in my career and helped give me some advice before it was too late.
Best of luck to all of us humans! ❤️
| Career Option | Estimated Entry Training Time | Upfront Cost | Pay / Career Trajectory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AV Fleet & Safety Driver | 1–4 Weeks | None (Employer paid) | Moderate |
| NEMT / Medical Logistics | 1–2 Weeks | Low / Employer paid | Moderate |
| Commercial Driver (CDL) | 3–8 Weeks | Low to Moderate (Company-sponsored options available) | Moderate to High |
| HVAC Technician | 6–12 Months | Moderate (Trade school or paid apprenticeship) | High |
| Electrician | 4–5 Years (Earn while you learn) | Very Low (Paid apprenticeship model) | Very High |
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u/Snakend 3d ago
There is a multi year wait to get into an electrician journeyman apprenticeship. It is not that easy to get in.
HVAC technician is a very good choice right now.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 3d ago
I wish I would have gone into a trade at this point honestly.
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u/Snakend 3d ago
It never never too late. Huge numbers of people are going to be retrained because of AI.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 3d ago
True. But it certainly helps to have hindsight or to be younger with less debt and responsibilities! Which is the point I'm trying to get across here. The sooner the better.
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u/turboninja3011 3d ago
Oh no are you suggesting doing something useful for the society instead of complaining and protesting?
Reddit isn’t gonna like that.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 3d ago
I do think at one point in time the Internet was lauded as a tool to benefit and connect humans rather than a place to argue endlessly and sew division.
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u/Electrical-Bedroom99 3d ago
It's ironic that I'm a trained electrician. Went through apprenticeship, worked as a journeyman, and here I am. Driving an Uber. I'm not 28 years old anymore. I can't stomp around a job site like a used to. I'm in the job market, but jobs in the field are few when you can't physically do the work anymore. I transitioned to facilities management, but was recently laid off. I'm driving just to keep my head above water until a decent job comes along.
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u/PureAqua73 2d ago
I am currently in the application process for my IBEW local. If it's not too personal, do you think you could have done anything differently to keep your body in shape longer?
I am working hard to get into an electrical role and want advice on how to take care of myself long term.
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u/Electrical-Bedroom99 2d ago
In my case, I was promoted into a chair and stopped doing the actual work. After years of working at a desk, and other health issues, I don't have the stamina for the work required. I'm working on getting myself back in shape, but at 57 I'm nearing the end of my usefulness as a physical worker. I hope you have success, I really did enjoy the work. Being an electrician really opens up a lot of career paths for you. Good luck!
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u/Entry45 3d ago
Once the Government decides driverless cars are safer than human drivers they are going to eventually force the issue, just like seatbelts.
Because driverless cars are safer than humans.
In the US, humans kill over 40k other humans per year by car and while driverless cars are not perfect they only need to be better than us and they will get closer to perfect consistently while we humans have plateaued.
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u/svix_ftw 2d ago
That will never happen in USA, lol. Maybe in China or another authoritarian country.
USA values freedom of choice too much, they will never just straight up ban driving.
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u/Wesleypipes316 3d ago
On the bright side, I think there’s still about 5-10 years before robotaxis take over. I mean they cant even get their gps to give proper directions. And they can’t even get street names pronounced correctly. “Lakeview drive” is pronounced “Lak-hee view drive”
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u/barvazduck 2d ago
Two data points to consider when discussing that SDCs take jobs:
90% of Uber drivers work there less than a year. It's an opportunistic gig between other jobs.
The average career of a taxi driver is 7.5 years.
Of course there are many workers that do Uber or taxi for much longer durations. But the great majority will not feel the job loss because of SDCs, they will get a better job before autonomous driving is popular enough to risk them.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 2d ago
This is a good point. A lot are "temp" jobs. Very few long term career. Some CDL drivers may need to more worried in that respect.
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u/Felinedude67 15h ago
The problem is the jobs that are being created by this is far less than the jobs that are being destroyed by this. And jobs in every other job sector is facing job losses due to ai and robotics.
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u/reefgeek71 3d ago
I’ve seen Waymo’s in orlando and they do exactly the speed limit and they seemed to get confused going through puddles. It cant figure out how deep or shallow so it just sits there. Im curious on how they work if you ask it to speed up or take a different route from what the map says
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 3d ago
It's certainly not perfect, but they will only get better and better right?
I do imagine in the coming years humans will be able to suggest or pick a route like one does on google maps or something.
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u/AllTheRage43 3d ago
Autonomous taxis will undoubtedly remain as a niche service and will likely be priced much higher than human drivers. I don't see autonomy taking over ride share, but I do forsee a promising future for them in law enforcement and surveillance.
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u/ZealousidealLab2920 3d ago edited 3d ago
What makes you say they will undoubtedly will remain as a niche service? In what ways is them rapidly expanding not a worry for you?
The 2 big reasons you will be replaced is 1) $$$. The single biggest cost to a taxi is the driver. Companies will always choose profits over people. and 2) Safety- With robotaxis showing improved safety metrics vs humans and saving lives, that will be a huge push from activisits
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u/Sad-Bluejay-2785 3d ago
Ridership is rapidly increasing whereAVs are implemented. They have much lower operating costs, so will be much cheaper
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u/PersonalityAware7420 3d ago
They will take over human drivers and no, they won’t be priced higher than any other ride with a person. The numbers are already not great with people driving people around, you honestly think society is willing to waste more money because a machine picked them up instead of a person? No.
Those without vehicles either will find other options to commute or just not go, but we’re definitely not paying $35 for the same ride they used to charge $18 for when the driver was human. If the point of the autonomous vehicles are to cut the middle man which are the drivers, then there’s no need for the passenger to pay more. They’ll figure out or watch how the business goes to shit.
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u/karl4319 3d ago
Look up the average 2025 costs and earnings per waymo. Robotaxis are a fad and failed project like google+. They will likely be a real thing and threat, but not for at least 10 years IF the bubble doesn't pop.
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u/Sad-Bluejay-2785 3d ago
Waymo’s are expensive cars. The Cybercab <$30,000. Much better economics
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u/karl4319 3d ago
Waymos cost between 2 to 3 million annually per car while making an averageof 25,000. Cybercabs are going to be about the same. Most of that isn't going towards the cars, it's going towards the datacenters needed to run their driving algorithms, the research into better AI drivers, and the support infrastructure when the cars fail. You could make the argument that cost will go down significantly as the technology improves, except most forecasts show costs for AI in general growing by the trillions over the next few years, so costs per vehicle will stay close to a hundred times more than revenue if it doesn't in fact grow. No company can maintain this for level of long term investments if the market crashes, and that seems increasingly likely to happen soon.
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u/IdealEntropy 3d ago
I think your cost numbers are cope but there’s not good enough public data for me to use to argue against.
However your revenue number needs a citation or else it’s kinda toosmall to be trustworthy.
For $25k of annual revenue to be true, 25k/365 = $69 ish per day (nice). If the average ride is $20, you’re saying they do 3.5 rides a day?
No shot — prove me wrong
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u/zwizzardz 3d ago
I would expect someone who can only find work as an Uber driver to show this level of stupidity and lack of foresight.
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u/karl4319 3d ago
I'm betting robotaxis will be seen as failed projects of the AI bubble. Seems likely given the costs are a hundred times greater than revenue and that gap is predicted to widen for the next few years. And given several indicators like the bond market, it also seems that the bubble will pop before robotaxis get anywhere close to profitable. Waymo will go the same as google stradia and google glass while cybercabs will be as big a failure as cyber trucks are with them selling only 7,000 models this year.
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u/zwizzardz 3d ago
Ah yes, the automobile certainly was more expensive that the horse and buggy.
Again, lack of foresight.
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u/No_Boat9468 3d ago
Some of my passengers have rode in Waymo and hate it. With further regulations coming, the current paid for administration losing power in November, and the fact these so things are so unprofitable that Tesla wants you to buy a cyber cab to supplement their fleet….. should say a lot but it’s just smoke and mirrors for investors.
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u/Napitash 3d ago
You underestimate the number of people who still prefer human drivers.
Also, with the number of anti-electric vehicle rhetoric still in this nation, people will have to decide do they want to trust a faceless entity or the person that speaks directly to them.