Uber needs drivers. It wants to throw your money at the problem

Uber is reallocating its spending from discounts for riders to incentives for drivers, in a bid to encourage them to work more hours. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed this during the company's third-quarter earnings call. This shift marks a change from last year, when Uber was spending more to attract more customers. The increased focus on driver incentives is due to a shortage of drivers that Uber has not faced since the end of the pandemic.

This shortage has led to higher prices for riders, who have also had to endure longer wait times. In the US and abroad, Uber is spending more on driver incentives, including offering hundreds of dollars in incentives to drivers ahead of the holiday season in the US. The move is part of a broader effort to attract more delivery workers to Uber Eats, as well as to emerging markets like Brazil and India, where fuel prices have risen due to the war between the US and Israel and Iran.

Uber's algorithms are using billions of past trips to decide where to best spend these incentives, aiming to maximize the return on each dollar spent.