Igniting opportunity by setting the world in motion

Helping our partners and their families get to where they want to go

Over 3 million people around the world partner with Uber. They have told us that they enjoy the freedom of being their own boss and deciding if, when and where they drive. But flexibility is only one part of the equation. For many of our partners, driving with Uber is more than a way to earn money — it’s a launchpad to start a small business, build a career, or help them and their families get ahead.

Just as drivers partner with us to help people get from A to B, we want to partner with drivers to help them and their families get to wherever they want to go.

The challenge

In the 1970s, less than 30% of jobs in the US required more than a high school diploma. Today it’s more than 60%. Similar trends are seen around the world, with rising expectations for the skills and credentials needed to unlock opportunity. And we should expect more challenges in the future, as automation and macroeconomic shifts mean that millions of people — as many as 375 million according to the McKinsey Global Institute — may need to switch jobs and learn new skills.

However, in much of the world, education and training systems have not kept pace with the demands of a changing economy. Put simply, we need to do more to ensure that people have the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to succeed.

We believe a high-quality, affordable education throughout one’s life, is an important lever for personal and professional advancement, and we all have a role to play in helping people access opportunities that prepare them for success in the 21st century.

How Uber can help

We recognize that the demands of a changing economy must be aligned with the needs of today’s workforce and that this has been a challenge for governments, businesses and nonprofits for many years. That is why we have been working with America Achieves, as an advisor and thought partner, to better understand the needs of the education sector and the role a global platform like ours can play.

We want to work with experts and best-in-class providers around the world to use our technology and scale to expand access to education and economic opportunity for our partners. Where appropriate, we will also lend our voice to advance the case for policy and systems change as well. This could include the expansion of financial aid and adult literacy programs, and exploring opportunities to deliver more protections and benefits to independent workers without undermining their choice of flexible, independent work.

We want to partner with cities and communities to create a more prosperous future in which the benefits of technology are felt by all — where technological progress leads to individual empowerment and better living standards, and where individuals can access opportunities and transitional support at any stage of their working life.

Areas for focus

There is no one-size-fits-all, ‘silver bullet’ program or ‘off the shelf’ approach to universal and lifelong learning connected to greater economic opportunity. We want to work with partners and experts around the world to advance our mission of igniting opportunity and driving social mobility, and think there are four areas for focus:

• Empowering individuals (and their families) to make informed choices by facilitating access to advisory and coaching services for enrollment, completion, and career planning, and navigating between these options.
• Greater access to high quality, affordable educational opportunities by offering flexible, portable and scalable development options with financial support and connecting them to existing funding sources.
• Creating opportunities for recognition and credit for skills and experiences learned in work and (and streamlining prior credit usage) that can be stacked to reduce costs and time to complete full qualifications.
• Building professional networks that help individuals (and their families) access additional economic opportunities.

Standing for and delivering change

We want to learn about what works — and what doesn’t — to support drivers and their family members. That’s why we are excited about our new partnership with Arizona State University that is targeted at ensuring that drivers or a family member reach their goals, in life and on the road. Drivers or their families in our beta program now have access to flexible education with 100% tuition coverage giving them the chance to earn undergraduate degree credits as well as English language and entrepreneurship certificates. (1)

This adds to the efforts we’ve been piloting around the world, including in-person courses with the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, online education through FutureLearn in the UK, as well as OpenClassrooms in France, and through our Campus VTC program business development and language skills training.

The future of work is important to us as a society and we all have a stake in getting it right. We understand that this means being long-term partners with communities, governments, and advocates to identify new opportunities and make the right investments that help deliver:

• Access to work that is always there, reliable and dependable
• Control and flexibility so that work fits around the lives of the workers, not the other way around
• Security and protections so that no one slips through the social safety net
• Opportunities for growth and advancement through experience, learning, and development

We know that more needs to be done and we look forward to working within our communities on making progress towards this goal. Together, we can deliver a more inclusive future of work where everyone has the chance to reach their potential.

_________________

1. Terms of this program can be read at https://www.uber.com/asu